24/05, AY1675 HEL-AGP OH-LZS
I spent most of my afternoon in the Finnair lounge on the non-Schengen side. It was deserted. I think there were more staff than passengers at any point during the 4 hours I was there. There's an even nicer section which is closed at the moment, called the Platinum Wing. It has a sauna. I'm looking forward to trying it!
When I was done with my work, I wandered slowly towards the Schengen section of the airport. That was a challenge. There are a very large number of gates, both automatic and manned, and from my tired observation they were all closed. After asking one of the agents managing to opposite flow, he pointed a booth where an agent (hidden from my tired sight) was available.
I checked out the Schengen lounge also for a few minutes. It's far from bad, but if you have a non-Schengen segment in HEL, then head to (or stay in) the non-Schengen side. It's miles bigger and much nicer to spend time in.
I arrived when groups 1-5 were already boarding. There was no queue for people who's groups were called earlier so I joined the back with about 20 people ahead. It was quite fast. And we didn't have to show our passports, which even in Schengen hasn't happened to me before.
Another planned appeared
Boarding was complete at 2040, pushback at 2045. We then taxied really slow, past the large area when planes get deiced in winter, and took off at 2054 from 22R.
Another thing which has surprised me with AY is how early they turn off the seat belt signs. It's off as soon as the chime rings to let cabin crew know its safe to start their service. I'm beginning to wonder whether some airlines leave the sign on for longer than necessary, just to ease service by not having people walk up and down the galley.
Service started at 2110 with a hot towel. Sorry I'm going to stop there and have a look back at this whole trip on the topic of hot towels. 7 flights in business, and I had one or two towels per flight, except the BA one. Because covid.
The food was good, the portions maybe a bit small for a flight over 4 hours. Glasses were kept very full for my neighbours, thank god (again) for noise cancelling headphones. I realised just before landing just how loud they had gotten!
We got off the plane at gate 42, the one closest to the exit, which is always nice.
A good thing to know if you land at Malaga from connecting flights outside Schengen, your luggage will be delivered at a separate carousel, inside an enclosed area (marked 31-34). I noticed the sign a little late, but arrived there just as my bag made it onto the carousel.
The reason for this is that it's the point at which your bag enters the Schengen customs area. In this case there were no customs officers so I walked straight out.
Next stop was the Holiday Inn express next to the airport. A couple of notes: it's not at the airport. It's a good 20-25 minute walk from the exit of the terminal, through some areas not really designed for pedestrians. And also, it's really not great. There were hair from previous occupier(s) in the shower, and the shower head leaked as a fountain at Versailles Castle (without the architecture).
With my next flight at 6am, I wasn't going to manage a 2 hour nap, so I just repacked my suitcase, read for a bit, and got an Uber back to the terminal. Even at 3am it wasn't a problem, there was one within 10 minutes, and it cost 6 euros...
For completeness I'll review that last flight too. I upgraded my AF booking to business, so it'll be interesting to compare. Who knows, maybe there'll even be a hot towel! (Sorry...)