Finnair A350 XWB to Helsinki

[Pinkfloyd]

I found the cabin service on the HEL-JFK sector to be pretty good as well. Even if the style of service was very subtly different i.e. cool Nordic vs warm Asian, I felt very welcome and well looked after in the Y cabin on both SIN-HEL and HEL-JFK sectors.



Thanks, SQ319!

Sure it wasn't COLD Nordic instead?

[yflyer]

Sure it wasn't COLD Nordic instead?

Not at all! In fact, the Finns I met in Helsinki were all such warm and friendly people once you got to know them...

Continuing with the TR...

My connecting flight to New York JFK was on a Finnair A330, registration OH-LTS, a 7 year old A330-300 series aircraft.



In terms of product generation, this is roughly contemporary to SQ's Y product on the A330 (i.e. something similar to SQ 2006 Y), and one generation behind the hard product on Finnair’s A350, but it is still a fairly current cabin offering.

This is a 2 class aircraft, with the business class cabin up front. This is a staggered 2-4-2 layout that is effectively 1-2-1, with direct aisle access for all seats. Like most modern generation J seats, these recline fully flat.





The Cirrus J seats on the Finnair A350 are considered to be a more modern design, however this staggered layout looks quite attractive to me too.

The first section of the 2-4-2 Y cabin is reserved for “Comfort Plus”. These are Y seats with added legroom, padded headrests, and other frills such as a small amenity kit and noise cancelling headphones.





The regular Y cabin in 2-4-2.



The emex row in the Y cabin has good legroom…



Rear of the Y cabin, where it tapers to 2-3-2.

[yflyer]

Widescreen IFE, with slimline IFE boxes under some of the seats.

Seat pitch in regular Y was ok, but not fantastic. If you are tall and need additional legroom, do consider Comfort Plus Y seats, with a few additional inches of legroom.



Recline was good, but not as impressive as the new A350. Only the seat back reclines – the seat base doesn’t slide forward.



There are no footrests, which is no issue for short or medium haul flights, but I do find that I sleep better on longhaul if there are footrests.

Armrests only go part of the way up, but they do go up just enough to enable one to lie flat if the row of 3 (or 4) is empty.



On this A330, A/C power in Y, but no USB. As noted in the previous part of this TR, on the A350, Finnair has USB but no A/C power.



Individual air vents…



IFE controller under the armrest.





Earbud headphones, and a fabric pillow and blanket, on each seat.



Overall, a very pleasant cabin and hard product, although it is one that is clearly a generation behind the superb A350 cabin.

[yflyer]

I explored the IFE. Unlike SQ's controller-only UI, this one had a touchscreen.





Map view…



…and camera view…





Today's 8+ hour flight across the "pond", mainly overwater, although we would overfly Iceland enroute to New York...



Decent movie and TV selection, although the range of programmes not as wide as SQ’s Krisworld…

[yflyer]

One of the programmes featured was a documentary on the A350…



First flight…



...note the crew parachutes!





Some SQ staff also make a cameo in this programme…



Here they are checking out the A350...



An interesting programme well worth watching if you are an aviation enthusiast…

[yflyer]

One piece tray table…



Sky Bistro menu…



Unlike the SIN-HEL sector, on this flight from HEL to JFK, wine and beer were complimentary only during the meal service. After the meal service, this would be chargeable. I think we are quite spoilt in SIN, where most flights on full service carriers out of Singapore offer complimentary beverages and liquor throughout the flight.





Some very interesting merchandise available in the duty free catalog…

[yflyer]

A full hot meal was served on this flight, with a choice of two mains…



The tray as served...full disclosure of ingredients and nutritional value printed on the metal foil cover...



Pork burger patty with mashed potatoes…



Starter of root vegetable salad…



A tasty main course…



…which I had with a glass of red wine…



Crumble for dessert…



…along with a slice of cheese…



Coffee and tea served in attractive Marimekko paper cups…

[yflyer]

Enroute to overfly Iceland…



But there was cloud cover most of the way, which meant I could not take any photos of the volcanic landscape while flying overhead.



This was a lightly loaded flight…I had 3 seats to myself in the rear of the cabin…



That is as high as the armrests go...not all the way up like SQ's A330's or Finnair's A350, but high enough to lie down.

A snack was served prior to landing…



A gouda cheese ciabatta…



Not bad, but I just had a couple of bites as I was saving space for dinner in New York after arriving…

[yflyer]

On approach into JFK…



I watched the landing on the camera mounted under the fuselage…I wish SQ would install these…



Taxiing to the gate…



Looks like the gate docking system at JFK is still manual...



A beautifully clear afternoon in New York.

[yflyer]

Not much of an immigration queue that day, so I was out into the landside area fairly quickly.

I took the JFK Airtrain to Jamaica station…



…and then Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)…



…for the short and comfortable (and cost-effective) train ride to Penn Station…



…in the heart of Manhattan, close to the Empire State Building.



This was just prior to the US Presidential Election, where bobbleheads and other souvenirs were still on sale…



This was just an overnight transit stop, but I did go for a short run from the Four Points Midtown to Central Park to shake off my jetlag…





I also took a stroll to Times Square to soak in the atmosphere…



The next morning, I headed to Newark to catch a flight to Florida, and spent the next few days in Florida, Chicago and Boston before heading back to New York for a short transit stop before my flight to Helsinki.

[yflyer]

It was quite an eventful week in the US, with the presidential election campaign in its final legs.

I flew into JFK from Boston on AA.

There was a store in BOS selling election souvenirs and merchandise…









This was a short flight, just under an hour, however it was operated by an Airbus A321 with F, J and Y cabins. On the flight that day, the J cabin, with fully flat seats configured 2-2 was sold as Y, and I enjoyed 45 minutes of in-flight luxury (Comparatively speaking) before landing at JFK. More on the this short hop on AA in a separate TR.



My flight landed in JFK at 10am. My flight to Helsinki was at 5.40pm. This was a 7 hour transit stop, and I left the airport to head into Manhattan for a few hours.

Once again, I caught the JFK Airtrain to Jamaica Station, then the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station in Manhattan.

Penn Station is within walking distance of Macy’s and the Empire State Building.

I decided to head up the Empire State Building for a look around…



Great views…



…in the open air viewing gallery…



A view of One World Trade Center (Also known as the Freedom Tower), where the twin towers once stood. The Statue of Liberty is also just visible…



You could also go right to the observatory on the top…

[yflyer]

An old style elevator brings you right up…





…to the small observatory…





The views from the observatory are not all that different from the viewing gallery just a few metres below, but they were spectacular views all the same…

Central Park clearly visible in the picture below…

[yflyer]

I headed back to Jamaica Station where I caught the Airtrain back to JFK.



On the Airtrain…



Great views of JFK from the Airtain…



Including Eero Saarinen’s 1962 TWA terminal, dating back to when the airport was still called Idlewild Airport, still looking very good after restoration…(I had to “shoot from the hip” with my iPhone, hence the blurry photograph.)



The AA/Finnair Terminal at JFK…



Finnair check-in…

[yflyer]

After clearing security (Queues were not long that afternoon), I headed to the AA Lounge…





Premium beverages and food items were available for purchase.





Oneworld Sapphire members and other premium FF’s received a voucher for one premium beverage…





Soft drinks and house pour alcoholic beverages were complimentary.

Complimentary snacks, including delicious hot soup…





The lounge was equipped with showers, which made a long transit stop in Manhattan very feasible. (And maybe even a run during the transit stop, although I didn’t do one this time.)

[yflyer]

I headed to the gate…



Today’s JFK-HEL flight was operated by OH-LTP, and unlike my outbound flight, today’s 8 hour red-eye flight was completely full.



Two choices for dinner…I opted for pasta…



Salad as a starter…



The pasta was tasty…



I accompanied my pasta with a glass of white wine…



The other choice of main that day…I asked the pleasant Finnish lady sitting next to me to if I could take a picture of her main, and she was happy to oblige...

(See, Pinkfloyd, what did I tell you? Finns are warm and friendly!)



Dessert…



…and cheese…



Coffee and tea from the trolley…



Lights were dimmed, and the cabin settled down to rest…