warakorn

Hong Kong - Helsinki Finnair Airbus A350-900 in Economy Comfort

On my recent trip to China I had to chance to try out the Finnair longhaul product on the Airbus A350-900. It was pretty solid.
I scored a seat in Economy Comfort, which offers a comfortable seat pitch of 35 inches.
Due to low loads, I could stretch out on empty seats, as well.
There are no Finnish flight attendants on board. All FAs appear to be Chinese. That's not a problem. In Economy you won't interact with them much.

Finnair offers a daily overnight flight from Hong Kong to Helsinki (AY 70). This is complemented by a daylight flight three times a week (AY 100).

Flight time was less than 10 hours. The geographic advantage of Helsinki, which lies on the great circle map between North Asia and Europe, plays out pretty well.


Here are some metadata on the flight:

Flight: Finnair AY 70
Departure from: Hong Kong International Airport, HKG, VHHH, China
Take-off from: Runway 07R, length 3,800 m / 12,467 ft
Arrival: Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, HEL, EFHK, Finland,
Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema
Landing on: Runway 22L; length 3,500 m / 11,483 ft Distance: 4,860 miles / 7,821 km
Duration: 9 hours and 56 minutes
Travel Class: Economy Comfort
Seat: 22A Pitch: 35 inches
Width: 18 inches
Passenger load: approx. 70% (empty middle seat next to me)
Departure Lounge at HKG: The Qantas Hong Kong Lounge
Arrival Lounge at HEL: Finnair Premium Lounge
Plane: Airbus A350-900 XWB
Registration: OH-LWB One-World Logo Jet
Delivered to Finnair: December 2015
Engines: 2 x Rolls-Royce Trent XWB
Take-Off Thrust: 97,000 lbf



Hong Kong International Airport:







Qantas Hong Kong Lounge:









Champagne at the Cathay Pacific Wing Lounge:





Our flight to Helsinki tonight will leave from gate 30:





Finnair Airbus A350-900 at Hong Kong Intl Airport:





Economy Cabin during boarding:





Economy Comfort seats with 35 inch pitch:





Boarding completed:







After Take Off from Runway 07R:





Dinner:





Route map:





Full moon over Mainland China:







Daylight is coming as we are approaching the border of Mongolia:







About to enter Russian airspace:





Tailcam:





Various wing photos:









Economy Comfort seat:





Inflight mood lighting:





Approaching St. Petersburg:





Breakfast was served 90 minutes before arrival - Asian option:





Western breakfast option:





Helsinki in the Baltic Sea:





Lining up to Helsinki Runway 22L:









Welcome to Finland!







Saying good bye to OH-LWB:







Here is the video:






Enjoy!

warakorn

All my trip reports on FT:

Airbus:

Iberia Airbus A340-600 London - Madrid in Y

Air Caraibes Airbus A350-900 Guadeloupe - Paris in Y

Empty Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - London Heathrow in Y+ and AY Lounge Sauna

Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - Shanghai in Y+

Finnair Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong - Helsinki in Y+

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-800 Singapore - New Delhi in Upper Deck Y

British Airways Airbus A380-800 Singapore - London Heathrow in Y



Boeing:

Asiana Boeing 747-400 Combi Tokyo - Seoul in F

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Montreal - Cancun in Y+

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Cancun - Toronto in Y

United Boeing 777-200ER Houston - Newark - Amsterdam in C

United Boeing 777-200ER Amsterdam - Houston in Y+

United Boeing 777-200ER Singapore - Hongkong in C

British Airways Boeing 777-300ER London - Shanghai in Y

ANA Boeing 777-300ER Singapore - Tokyo in C

Swiss Boeing 777-300ER Zurich - Hong Kong in Y

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Hong Kong - Singapore in Y

TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Sint Maarten - Curacao in P

TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Curacao - Amsterdam in P

Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Toronto - London in Y

ANA Boeing 787-8 Shanghai Pudong - Tokyo Narita in C

United Boeing 787-9 Los Angeles - Houston in C



Train:

CFR Calatori Bucharest - Istanbul Halkali in Sleeper Car

EuroNight Jan Kiepura Cologne - Warsaw in Sleeper Cabin

China High Speed Rail Shanghai - Xiamen in F

Caledonian Sleeper Train Inverness - London Euston in Sleeper Cabin

French TGV High Speed Train: Barcelona - Paris in F

China High Speed Rail Guangzhou - Shanghai Hongqiao in Y

Swiss Railways L�tschberg Mountain Line Bern - Brig in F

Ukraine Railways Kiev - Budapest in Sleeper Cabin

Virgin Trains West Coast London - Glasgow in F



Enjoy!

LizTheWizz

For a minute there I thought it was Sydney airport with all those flying kangaroos lined up haha. Enjoyed this report very much, thank you.

Bretteee

I wonder if they charge a lot more for the extra legroom. United charges a little over $100.

1010101

I'm thinking of doing this same flight soon, how would you compare Economy Comfort to Premium Economy on someone like Cathay Pacific? Or is it still very much an economy product?

Andaman

Thanks for the TR!

I was just arranging A350 flights to HKG and BKK ex-HEL, AY charges EUR 90 for the Comfort Seat to HKG, an Extra Legroom Seat was EUR 60.

With the Comfort Seat comes 3-5" more legroom, noise-cancelling headphones, small amenity kit and priority boarding. Otherwise the same Y seat, food, IFE etc.

I chose the plain Extra Legroom seat, with no seat ahead.