Finnair

HKG-HEL. The economy experience is very coarse heavily plastic a little like RyanAir gone long-haul. Flight attendant refused to hang my suit even though they had space and I'd been assured this wouldn't be a problem for economy on the outward leg. Food ok but clearly priced to a level only one pass with drinks. Slightly cheaper ticket buys a basic environment. Channel based entertainment system seems very dated in the modern era of VOD. Didn't feel four star. Very slow security process at HEL. Not recommended. HEL-MAN a much more pleasant experience - felt like a different airline; staff helpful and attentive.

LHR-HEL-ROV. Plane broke down just prior to boarding at Heathrow. No information and farcical situation where we went to check-in 4 times back through security 3 times =(+ 3 times wrong way) passports twice customs once - without even leaving UK. Put on flight 8 hours later and told onwards connection that night. Arrived at Helsinki to discover flight actually next day and had to seek out Finnair staff at midnight (they were helpful) to sort out hotel for night. Flights themselves comfortable.

MAN-HEL-BKK return. Inflight entertainment is poor or non existent with very little choice. Meals either a sandwich or limited selection. Transfer from Helsinki to Manchester woeful hundreds of passengers queuing with no priority given to passengers and their flight times. Complained to Finnair regarding this but have not replied. Airbus fleet is modern is the only positive point I can find. Long way off middle east competitors.

LHR-HEL-LHR. 0730 flight out of LHR nice breakfast in empty CX Lounge. Flight out was fine. Lounge in HEL great good seats overlooking gate area and good soup and salad. Adequate champagne on flight. Economy seats with a space in the middle as is usual for European flights 3 hours is about the most I would want in this seat.

OTP-HEL-BKK and return. Seats not terribly comfortable but acceptable AVOD not working well (sound so bad on most films that it was impossible to hear them) and the food on HEL-BKK the worst I have ever experienced. Service OK. Check in at BKK very unfriendly. I don't see Finnair as a 4-star airline in comparison to the other 4-star airlines in Europe.

STO-BKK via HEL in Business class. Check in smooth flights almost in time. Good information from the flight-deck. Food above average. Wines and drinks fine.

BKK-HEL-AMS-HEL-BKK Economy Class. The new A330 BKK-HEL-BKK was great (new AVOD IFE - if a bit limited in options) and cabin crew were very friendly. I don't like Finnair's free-grog- with-mealtimes - the window is too short but the haul is too long for this sort of thing. But at least the pay-on-board options were extensive. I found the meals on Finnair good - even the short-haul snack from HEL-AMS-HEL. A warm sandwich goes a long way in my book!

Finnair either hit or miss. Sometimes you have very helpful staff and good experience - others very bad. Whenever something goes wrong they seem ill-equipped to handle it. I regularly fly a route that ends up connecting to the HEL-LHR flight and I've missed the connection several times. That in itself is not Finnairs fault but the staff at the transit desk despite you having been put out make it seem like they are doing you a favour to transfer to another flight. They won't transfer you onto the next BA flight as they prefer to make you wait for their next flight despite being code share / one world partners. Then having got your ticket you ask if you can be seated aisle/window/closer to front etc like your original seat but they won't fobbing you off to ask at the gate where they know full well they will be too busy to be able to change anything. Finnair used to be a first class airline and was doing well upgrading its fleet getting rid of all the old long haul MD80s etc but despite new fleet new code sharing it is still the same old staff who certainly in my opinion need refreshing as well.

I travel London-Helsinki route regularly and prefer Finnair to BA. Finnair newer and there's programmes running on the tv-screens. I've found cabin crew friendly and attentive but food has recently gone a bit downhill - they're obviously tightening their belts. The seat pitch is what it is doesn't even seem to be much different in Business anymore either but is somewhat helped by the new design of the seats.

Bangkok - Manchester via Helsinki. This is a trip that we make nearly every year and normally we travel with one of the middle eastern carriers. This time however we left our booking a little late and were unable to get our preferred dates. Finnair was the only alternative at a reasonable price. Friendly service Helsinki an excellent place to transfer. The airport is very easy to navigate through staff are friendly and it was quiet when we passed through. There was even a play area near the gate to keep the kids happy. And free wi-fi that works straight away - no need to request a password first. Dislikes - No choice of meal: on one of the flights the only option was a beef sandwich. - The food was quite plain and boring in comparison with the airlines we usually use. Browsing through the entertainment system I couldn't find much worth watching.