Today I am heading to New York. I’ve been travelling around Europe for the past 3 weeks and my flight to the USA is on Finnair via Helsinki. I have a 22 hour stop in Helsinki but the check in agent has checked me and my suitcase right through to New York. Normally I pack a change of clothes and some toiletries in my back pack when moving between cities, but for some unknown reason this is the first time I haven’t! Doh! It’s ok, I’ll only have my backpack to lug around Finland’s capital and have an excuse to go shopping 🙂 .

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When its time to board we are bused to the plane which is on standoff alongside several other waiting aircraft. It’s quite hot on the bus so while we are waiting for it to fill with other passengers, a few of us jump back off into the shade. It’s a good 10 minute wait before we are taken to our jet.

This particular aircraft, an Airbus a321 was delivered to the airline in October 2013, making it around 4 years old.  It looks super newish and sparkling clean and I’m impressed.

WOW, what a view for a plane spotter, we’ve got Aeroflot, Turkish Airlines. British Airways and Air Berlin amongst a few other airlines I cant recognise! Can anyone recognise those I can’t?

The Finnair Airbus a321 has a typical 3-3 configuration with a standard 31″ pitch. There is no seat back AVOD but only the safety card and magazine in the higher rack. In a lower rack, I place my camera and personal items.

Take off from Munich was quick and smooth. For a full video of the take off, see the bottom of the page.

Finnair domestic and intra-European flights do not have complimentary food and drink but a buy on board menu and while its all cold options, there seems to be plenty to choose from.

I order from the Sky Bistro, it’s a combo, anti-pasto platter with white wine and while at €15 it’s probably a little high versus my Aussie dollar it’s ok value for European standards. Although it looks cheap in a flimsy plastic tray, the contents taste far from it. The cured meats are the best part and I am surprised with the amount. The cheese and sun-dried tomatoes are also tasty, although I am not a fan of the rice crackers.

There’s no on board entertainment, so I flick through the in-flight magazine written in both Finnish and English and polish off my wine before landing.

The flight lands on time and its a quick process to get the train from the airport into the city for my 1 night stay, especially since I don’t have my suitcase. First stop – shopping!

Bonus: Take off on board Finnair Airbus a321 from Munich to Helsinki.

FreakyFlier paid for the ticket independently. 

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