[woodman2]

I did Economy with Finnair a few years back. No dramas. Left on time both legs and kept to schedule. Newish A330s or A340s. Very Scandinavian passenger list so people were polite and respectful. No Arabs or Indians.

Legroom was OK. Food passable. Stingy with the booze but got a couple of beers out of them. Never used the AVOD.

The plane interior, uniforms and branding is all pale greens, blue and greys. Very cold looking as if that matters. But that was my over ridding impression of Finnair. Cold.

Vaarta is tiny by international standard but also very grey and austere. Not much in the way of facilities. But I noticed it had a massive sauna and a stall selling rear fur hats. When we arrived from Manchester we deplaned outside the terminal and had to walk in. Only 5 minutes but not what you want in December. The banks of snow they had cleared were higher than the planes tail. They do brag that in the last 25 years or something they have only had to shut the runway once because of snow. And that was only for 30 minutes.

The only thing that puts me off using them again is that the stopover is only 55 minutes 1 way and 70 minutes the other connecting from Manchester. Doable with Vaarta being the size it is but what if it goes shitty through no fault of the Finns. I don't fancy being stuck in Helsinki for any length of time seeing as how it is hellish expensive.

[james100]

I flew Finnair in March this year.I was flicking through bizzclass.com looking for a cheap deal and Finnair came up with the cheapest price for the dates I wanted. 850pounds one way. Bangkok/Helsinki/London/Aberdeen.

[Fork Handles]

FWIW, I flew with MA back in 2005. It was horrible, but mostly because the flight was 100% full, cattle class full of taxi drivers.
I made sure to order lots of drinks, and a meat based meal, that had to be passed across the muslim coont next to me.

[Uncle Sam]

For what it is worth, Etihad have a 10% discount off at the moment

enter the Etihad discount code GRIP002 when prompted.

Also 2% cashback

http://euflyer.boardingarea.com/2014...hts/#more-1601