I’ve got a long flight ahead of me. There is still plenty of time before departure from Helsinki Airport, so I decide to pay a visit to the Finnair Spa & Saunas located between gates 36 and 37. Just entering the spa environment relaxes me: the gently splashing fountain, the cold water wave pool, the bubbling mineral water waves and the warm steam of the sauna are inspiring and the aroma of herbs eases the mind.
 
The Spa’s four different saunas, the wave pools and the crushed ice fountain are reminders of Finnish nature. Fresh pine on the floor of the pine sauna remind me of the Finnish forest and smell wonderful in the warmth. And since we’re in a poetic mood, the cold water of the wave pool is like fresh river water and the ice fountain reminds me of the avanto, the hole in the ice where Finns like to swim after sauna bathing in winter.   

From the window of the Finnish sauna, the view of the mineral water pool brings to mind the lake landscape close to my own summer cottage – although the windows on the far side of this vista look out towards Finnair aircraft! And as if this were not enough, I can wash with refreshing Finnish berry products in the shower room.

Individual treatments and treatment packages are available in the Spa, all provided according to one’s own timetable. I still have time before the flight so I decide to take the 90-minute Sassi dei Vulcano hot stone treatment, by means of which the body arrives in a state of complete relaxation with the help of agreeably warm, soft pebbles. During the treatment all the muscle tension in my legs, arms, back and neck disappears together. 

After the hot stone treatment I still have time to indulge in a 25-minute Chinese-style face treatment. The Immediate PerforMANce treatment gets off to a relaxing start with a seaweed and mint oil mask. The treatment continues with a pleasant massage using refreshing and moisturizing oils. After these relaxing and invigorating treatments, I’m ready for my flight.

I can’t resist it: on my return trip I decide to test the Royal Relaxation package which starts with a relaxing neck and scalp massage. Next I head for the water bed, where I feel as if I am floating weightlessly while the effects of a warm herb wrap soothe away my stress.  

During the treatment, there’s a low gentle light in the treatment room, the peaceful soundtrack of natural sounds makes me think of the chirping of birds in childhood summers, while the lapping of the waves and the rumble of distant thunder transport me to a dreamy beach. After the treatment I move to the Spa’s upper level, where one can relax on the warm ceramic loungers and enjoy fresh fruit and juices.

Pretty soon, I’m in the perfect frame of mind for another trip.

Markku Remes
 
Finnair Spa & Saunas is located between Gates 36 and 37 at Helsinki Airport. The Spa is in the part of the transit area for departures to and arrivals from countries outside the Schengen agreement area. Transit passengers connecting with flights in the Schengen area can use the Spa between flights too. For example, if you are arriving on a flight from London or from one of Finnair’s Asian destinations, you can use the Spa before passing through passport inspection to transfer to a connecting flight within Schengen-zone Europe. The Finnair Spa & Saunas opens from 10am to 11pm. Personal wellness treatments are available from 12 to 9pm. Advance bookings can be made by calling +358(0)9 818 0246 or by visiting the following link: www.finnair.com/spa. 

Nothing is more comfortable than travelling in business class, especially on intercontinental flights. When you leave behind the attractive Via Lounge and enter the spacious cabin of an Airbus A330 or A340, you settle comfortably into your own lie-flat bed seat. Your coat is hung in a wardrobe and you receive a welcoming drink of your choice. Many enjoy a sip of champagne before take-off.

You can also listen to music and programmes using special headphones that substantially reduce the background noise. An accessory bag to be found in a small seat pocket offers important items to smooth your journey, including sea buckthorn berry lip balm and skin cream.

The new Airbus A330 aircraft has lie-flat seats that recline fully to horizontal – slip off your shoes, pull on the flight stocks from the accessory bag, put a soft pillow under your head and cover yourself with a comfortable blanket: I’ll guarantee that after a good meal and a couple of drinks you’ll have no problem sleeping. A third of business class seats are solo seats that stand alone. Almost all of the seats have direct access to an aisle, allowing you to visit the WC, for example, without climbing over a sleeping neighbour. The large Airbuses are modern and load the environment less; their average age is only 2.5 years.

In the non-Schengen area’s Via Lounge, it’s possible before your flight to enjoy a light buffet meal or perhaps the soup of the day. How about an invigorating shower before or between flights? The Via Spa offers six private shower rooms, complete with a full range of hygiene accessories.

On long flights we always offer something appetizing to accompany your welcoming drink. Currently we serve, for example, a choice of savoury snacks or strawberries. With meals you can enjoy domestic or Nordic country treats when departing from Helsinki. In July, we served on our New York flights a starter of Toast Skagen or creamy cold-smoked reindeer soup, a main course of fried arctic charr and Lapland ‘puikulaperuna’ potatoes, roast breast of chicken in Madeira sauce and citrus risotto or rucola ravioli with goat’s cheese and herb dressing.

For dessert, passengers could choose from cheeses, white chocolate cake with blueberry sauce, Fazer Nordic Gourmet chocolates and fresh fruits. Now doesn’t that sound delicious?

In business class, magazines, snacks and drinks are always available – delivered to your own seat.

Personal service, space and freedom of movement make flying in business class a wonderful experience. The cabin staff are sensitive to your desires and endeavour to serve you according to your wishes.

Business class passengers are always the first to reach any connecting flight security check or passport and customs formalities, and their baggage arrives first in the arrival hall.

In business class on European flights, a spacious front area of the cabin is always at your disposal and every effort is made to arrange a free seat next to you. A tasty meal or snack from a frequently changed menu plus normal drinks with meals are included in the ticket price. Also available for your use are a storage closet for coats, a wide selection of newspapers and, nearly always, dedicated business class WC facilities (the exception being the Embraer 170 aircraft). Lounge facilities ease the departure procedure, and business class passengers can always leave the aircraft first, or indeed last, according to their wishes.

New for business passengers around the world

Finnair’s business class customers can now use Manchester’s new Escape lounge, which offers relaxation and business facilities before flights to Helsinki. At the end of July, passengers departing from London could enjoy for the first time the brand new, nearly 1,000 square metre Cathay Pacific lounge, which has panoramic windows, five shower rooms and an authentic Hong Kong noodle bar.

In August, we opened in Delhi Airport’s new Terminal 3 the magnificent Kingfisher lounge, where a Formula 1 Ferrari sitting by the entrance sets the atmosphere. Inside, there’s a waterfall and a red grand piano, whose melodies entertain departing customers. For the first time in India, shower facilities are also offered to business class customers. In mid-October, we move into the new Terminal D at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and our customers will have access to an ultramodern service environment.

New routes to Stuttgart (BA Lounge) and Stockholm-Bromma (Yellow Lounge) opened on 16 August. Next spring we fly to Hong Kong twice a day and open a direct service to Singapore. Lounge services in Helsinki-Vantaa’s Schengen area will receive a completely new and spacious look after the coming winter season.

Travelling does not need to be uncomfortable and unpleasant – it just depends on what you yourself desire from your travels.

Finnair’s flights between Europe and Asia are almost full, with a passenger complement that includes dozens – sometimes over 50 – different nationalities, as well as Finns, on a single flight. Europe’s more than 700 million residents are of as much interest to Finnair as the 5 million people who live in our home country. For a billion customers in the Asian countries, Finnair is often as good as if not better than our competitors as an alternative for travelling to Europe.

The competition on air traffic between Europe and Asia continues to be hot, with over 50 airlines offering connections, both direct and with aircraft changes. In every market the same basic pricing applies, whereby a non-stop flight costs more than one that involves a change of plane. Just as Finns experience Finnair as being somewhat pricier, so consumers in other countries find the same thing in the case of their own national airlines.

This explains how, in European terms, a medium-sized airline such as Finnair is able to fill its long-haul aircraft from Helsinki to ten different Asian and North American destinations by working actively in different markets and offering fast, comofrtable and affordable connecting flights through the uncongested Helsinki-Vantaa airport. The name we have given to this concept is Via Helsinki. Flight routes from Europe to Asia nearly all follow the same air space across Northern Europe. The same applies to flights between India and the USA and the Middle East and the USA.

You can follow the real-time progress over northern air space of these flights early in the morning and in the evenings at the following web site: www.flygradar.se or www.flightradar24.com. You can zoom in on the map and click on flights over Finland, for example, to see where they are flying from and where they are heading.

Finnair is doing its best to ensure its competitiveness, often together with its Finnish civil aviation partner admin Finavia. These efforts involve some of the biggest investments ever made in Finland, including 1.7 billion euros between 2004 and 2010 in fleet renewal and, on the part of Helsinki-Vantaa airport, hundreds of millions of euros in a third runway, termnial extensions and modernization, and maintenance of facilities in prime condition.

We are continuously surveying both customer satisfaction and brand image development. According to the latest research results, our customers still value Finnair’s travel comfort as well as our modern fleet. Our staff service is perceived as being friendly. Competitor monitoring on Asian routes also suggests that our price-quality relationship is also competitive.

As of March, our long haul fleet will be Europe’s youngest, with an average aircraft age of 3 years, as Boeing MD-11s are withdrawn and factory-fresh A330-300s join the fleet. On all Finnair’s long-haul routes each passenger will have his or her own individual entertainments and communications system to use, in both cabin classes. You’ll be able to plug in your computer, MP3 player and other personal entertainment devices, wherever your seat is. A wireless LAN environment for email and internet access is being phased in on different routes. Every seat already has its own satellite phone and the option to send and receive short SMS and email messages.

The latest Airbus A330-300 joined the fleet at the end of December and for the first time it offers completely flat beds for all 45 passengers in Business Class. The new seats are arranged with single seats on the right hand side, pairs for passengers travelling toegther in the centre, and a combination of the two types on the left side of the cabin. There’s increased table space with all seats for computers, papers and drinks. Comofrtable blankets and pillows make sure that you get a really good rest during your flight.

On December 11 the new Via Lounge and Via Spa complex was opened near Gates 37-38 in the non-Schengen terminal extension at Helsinki-Vantaa. The services can be used by passengers heading for destinations outside the Schengen area as well as those arriving from outside the Schengen zone and connecting with onward flights. The extnesion will make sure that the continuously modernized airport will be able to serve the 15 million passengers who will pass through the airport each year, as well as take care of the 13.5 million security checked items, using state-of-the-art equipment to move baggage quickly from one flight to another.

The new Via Spa area can welcome over 100 guests to its four different saunas and steam rooms, cold water treatment and mineral water baths, rest areas and wellness treatment rooms. Anyone over 18 can visit the Via Spa for a fee of 45 euros between the hours of 10 in the morning and ten at night. Finnair Plus Platinum cardholders have free access to Via Spa. You can even prepare yourself for your sauna experience with an ice spring before your take your shower. Berry-scented hair and skin care products are included in the basic price. The treatments on offer are being constantly being evolved and developed to be even more vaired, according to the German Haslauer spa concept company that devises them. The cost of treatments varies from 31 euros upwards, and there’s a 50 per cent discount on general entry to the spa area for those customers wishing to take these treatments.

The adjacent Via Lounge relaxation area is available to all customers from morning to evening at a fee of 45 euros. About 250 visitors can sit and relax in the lounge at any one time. There is also a combined ticket for Via Spa and Via Lounge access at a fee of 70 euros. In addition to the basic services on offer, there’s a new Via Bar sales point where you can buy fine champagnes and rare vintage wines by the glass and other quality drinks as recommended by expert bar staff. The Via Lounge environment is available without extra charge to Business Class passengers, and Finnair Plus Platinum, Gold and Silver customers as well as oneworld Emerald and Sapphire cardholders regardless of travel class.

Take a sneak preview of the Via Spa at www.finnair.com/spa.

Welcome to a whole new world of enjoyable and relaxing experiences!

Markku Remes

Next week, on Thursday 27 August, the first phase of a new 150 million euro terminal complex will be opened at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to serve long-haul route and non-Schengen customers.

This is the first step towards a big change that will lies ahead in the autumn. Next Thursday, a customer arriving at the terminal will see more spacious waiting areas and expanded toilet facilities, and two new gates (33 and 36) will also be taken into use. The first company to open in the new, bright waiting area will be R-kioski, offering a wide selection of reading material among its product range.

The next stage in the terminal transformation will take place on 15 September, when more shops and the My City Helsinki restaurant world will open in the new area.

At this point, new service areas will speed up our customers’ connection-flight formalities and improve their general enjoyment of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

A fine innovation in the restaurant world is a video theatre for the smaller members of the family, including an ice-cream bar with a tempting range of flavours. A further two new gates (34 and 35) will also be brought into use.

For the smooth passage of Finnair customers, an essential advance will be the opening on 15 September of a new 7-line security check area for arriving transit passengers. I am really pleased about this, because we will now be able for the first time to guide transit passengers, using clear display screens, to security check according to the time available to complete connections. We and the customers have long awaited the opportunity to do this.

Further changes will take place during the autumn, when passport checking points for departing traffic as well as the Transfer Service 3 point will be transferred closer to the new terminal extension.

The final stage will be completed on 11 December with the opening of the end section of the terminal extension. A new, stylish 1,000 m2 Via Lounge, able to accommodate around 250 customers, will open. The services provided will include six private shower rooms, a snack buffet, a well-stocked wine bar and relaxation areas. Business customers, of course, will also have the opportunity to work, via a free WLAN network, for example.

At this time a nearly 600 m2 Via Spa environment for around 100 customers will also open – something quite unique in the world of airports. Via Spa will offer four different saunas, a spruce sauna from the Alps, a stone sauna, a steam sauna and a traditional Finnish sauna, which will provide a view over a mineral water pool to the aircraft taxiways. A paddling pool, reminiscent of a stream bed, will relax the tired feet of transit passengers in cool water. The planning of various care services is currently being finalised for advance marketing. The objective is construct them so that even the busy transit passenger can relax for a moment, free of stress.

All these innovations are part of the joint goal-directed development work of Finnair and Finavia. The number of Europe-Asia transit passengers has fallen during 2009, but only by a few percentage points, compared with a general decline in passenger numbers of nearly ten per cent.

Finnair’s chosen strategy seems to be helping the company to come through the current difficult operating year. The future-oriented terminal extension work presently under way will contribute to improving our competitive position, particularly as economic conditions start to recover.

Soon new experiences await us as we travel!

Markku Remes

Wednesday August 5 is a momentous day for Finnair. That is when the airline will concentrate all traffic and customer services at Helsinki-Vantaa airport’s Terminal 2 (T2), along with its other cooperation partner airlines. After the move, Finnair check-in and departure gates will be much closer to each other. Distances from one to the other will be cut in some cases from as much as a kilometre to as little as several dozen metres.

Finnair staff and facilities will serve our customers under a single roof in the future, instead of being dispersed over two terminals as has been the case. Ticket sales, check-in and baggage collection are all in the same area too.

The biggest single change that our customers will notice is that Finnair will move completely from the previous domestic terminal. In practice this means that passengers for domestic flights will now arrive at and depart from T2 as of August 5. Baggage delivery for arriving domestic flights will be in the arrivals area 2.

Check-in for all Finnair flights will take place in the main hall, at desks 201 to 232. Passengers checking in for international departures should report to the same check-in zone, except for between 16.00 and 19.00 when extra capacity is needed for customers checking in for long haul flights. At these times check-in desks 411 to 419 will be taken into use for Asia departures.

Business Class and Finnair Plus Platinum/Gold cardholders will also be served at their own desks in this area.

Baggage Drop for long haul flights will be located at desks 418-419.

Check-in for Leisure Flights will mainly also be concentrated in T2 (desks 201-232), but also desks 411-419 will be used. Precise directions will be displayed on large display boards.

Families with children and passengers requiring special assistance will have their own service desk, 216, in the main hall of T2.

Time taken for check-in for Finnair scheduled flights can be significantly cut by checking in online at www.finnair.com, an option that can be used by passengers 36 hours before departure. There are 20 easy-to-use automatic Finavia check-in kiosks in the departure halls of T2. Finnair Plus members will be rewarded with an extra 500 points for checking in online or using these kiosks until the end of August.

At the same time, Finavia is to start renovations on arrivals area 3, converting it into a state-of-the-art spacious and well-lit check-in area, the first part of which will be taken into use in March 2010. Renovation work will continue in various parts of the airport for the next two years. There will be some disruption to the daily business of both customers and airlines at the airport but I firmly believe that the end result will be worth the trouble.

Finavia has invested 150 million euros in terminal expansion at T2, along with 24 million on other modernizations, so the airport’s ‘host’ for Finnair and its passengers is truly paying serious attention to service development.

On August 27 the first part of the new terminal extension will start serving passengers on flights to destinations outside the Schengen area with spanking new departure gates. On September 15 a My City Helsinki restaurant area and some exciting new shops serving departing and connecting passengers will all open for business. Spacious and well-situated security inspection areas for Via Helsinki connecting passengers will open at the same time.

Just in time for Christmas – and an early gift for all concerned – the rest of the new terminal extension will open on December 11. The long-awaited Via Lounge and Via Spa facilities will open then too, with a customer service capacity of 400 people at any one time.

We are cooperating closely with Finavia to inform our customers about the changes: check our web site at www.finnair.com and the website of Finavia at www.helsinki-vantaa.fi before setting off to find out the latest news.

Meanwhile, we’d like to thank our customers in advance for their patience and apologize for any inconvenience or discomfort caused by the renovations and improvements. When it’s all finished, we think you’ll agree it was worth it!

Markku Remes