St. Petersburg-Helsinki
Like all international flights from St. Petersburg, this one began in Pulkovo Airport, terminal 2.
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The flight took place on 8/10/2012, flight number AY170, St. Petersburg-Helsinki. Departure was scheduled for 4:20 PM, and the plane was right on time.
I checked in online, and was able to pick my favorite seats (the ones at the very front of economy class).
The plane was an Embraer-190
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Its tail number was OH-LKN (an online search shows that it came off the production line in 2009)
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The plane was sporting Oneworld Alliance livery (according to the rules of the alliance, 2 planes in the fleet of each member airline have to have these colors).
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Gate number 3
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Business class seats on Finnair flights are no different from economy class ones. The only real distinction is that business class windows have a shutter you can pull down.
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Economy class seats:
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There was plenty of legroom, which made things much more comfortable.
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The cabin was well kept and cozy, with friendly and cheerful flight attendants!
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The plane was about 90% full. Finnair does many flights to Asia, so the flights to Helsinki (which is a transit hub) are usually completely booked.
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Taxi and takeoff were fairly quick.
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After about 10 minutes, we were bathed in sunlight, which was quite a contrast to cloudy, rainy St. Petersburg.
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The control panel with reading lights, air conditioning vents and flight attendant button was circular in shape.
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The restrooms were clean.
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Reading materials onboard include:
1. Finnair's official flight magazines
2. Finnair's duty-free catalog
3. Finnair's duty-free preorder catalog
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There were no meals served on this flight, as it was only 55 minutes long. The flight attendants served water and juice, however.
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There was also a "Snacks & Bar" menu available in the seat pocket, which you could use to order a snack.
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The flight was pretty quiet and uneventful, we began our descent after 20 minutes.
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Descending over Helsinki
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Welcome to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.
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Helsinki-Vienna
Upon arrival at the airport, we headed directly to make the connection. The baggage was transferred directly and we picked it up in Vienna.
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The transfer was quick and convenient. After getting through security, we found ourselves in the duty-free zone.
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Our flight was number AY767, Helsinki-Vienna, departing at 5:05 PM. The plane was an Airbus A-319, made in 2000. It was in service with SABENA and Charterhouse Leasing.
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Tail number OH-LVI
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We boarded the plane from gate 29.
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The plane being prepared for departure.
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The business class cabin, as already mentioned, looks exactly like economy class, but offers a different level of service.
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The rows in economy class have plenty of legroom. It was very comfortable.
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Each seat came with a coat hook.
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The upholstery was gray. The A-319 was perhaps 99% full due to tourists from Asia, as explained earlier.
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Magazines and newspapers are available for a fee.
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The restrooms were sparkling clean.
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This was the first time I've ever encountered an Airbus layout with the restrooms in the tail.
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Takeoff and climb were very smooth. The pilots really knew what they were doing.
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The trip lasted 2 hours 35 minutes. An hour into the flight, meals were served. I had requested a low-carb meal ahead of time (this consisted of ciabatta, mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken fillet, olives and vegetables).
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The standard meals included ciabatta, noisettes, feta cheese, veggies and dried tomatoes. I'll be honest and say that the special needs meal wasn't very flavorful
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After that we were served tea, coffee and soft drinks.
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After the 2 hours in flight, we began our descent
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For the landing, I give the pilots approximately 10000000/10. It was super-smooth. I didn't even feel the plane touch the ground. Even the Europeans onboard applauded, which they don't normally do.
And so I found myself in sunny Vienna International Airport.
The plane at the gate:
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Thank you all for reading. Go Finnair!
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Finnair is rated 2nd best in the world for airline safety.
P.S. For a one-way trip on this flight, I received 1106 miles on my Finnair Plus frequent flyer card.
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