Flying: Scoot B777-200 Economy Class Singapore to Hong Kong 2015

A point worth noting is that check-in for Scoot flights ends 60 minutes prior to departure, unlike 45 minutes for most other airlines.

At check-in, I was disappointed by the counter staff informing me that the aircraft has been changed to a 777-200 instead of the 787-9 originally scheduled for the route. I had been wanting to experience the mood lighting and (presumably) increased legroom on the Dreamliner.

Scoot 220
Singapore (SIN) – Hong Kong (HKG) 
Friday, Jun 5 2015
Depart: 01:55AM
Arrive: 05:40AM
Flight time: 3hr45min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200

I suppose because the carrier was trying to save on fees, it used one of the gates that was the furthest from the terminal.

We pushed off from gate F60 at 2:06AM, slightly behind schedule, but given the wee hour departure, there was minimal traffic at Changi and we took off after a quick taxi at 2:16AM.

Given that it was a late night departure, the load was fairly light, with about 70% of the seats filled at a cursory glance. 

Since it is a budget carrier, the service was absolutely no-frills. And since it was almost a red-eye flight, I dispensed with all meals/drinks and set out to sleep through the journey, hence essentially experience close to zero service. Having said that, the hard product is decent, with a fair amount of leg room.

Perhaps due to the light load, the air-condition made me feel rather cold and for a moment I regretted wearing berms, though with a jacket it became quite bearable. By this time it was almost 2:30AM, I quickly dozed off while the cabin was still dim from take-off, and managed to stay asleep until we are on the final descent into HKG.

Despite the late departure, we landed on time at 5:36AM.

Coming out of the aircraft, I realised that the plane was again parked at one of the gates that was the furthest from the terminal.

At such early hours, immigration was a breeze and within half an hour I was on the airport express heading down to the train station in Kowloon Tong for the trip home to Guangzhou.

Flying: Finnair A340-300 Economy Class Helsinki to Singapore 2015

The layover at Helsinki airport was a short one with only less than an hour before the boarding time for my next flight, so I was kind of in a rush to clear immigration and save some time for a quick meal and charging my phone.

However, I made a silly mistake at the border control by showing my passport to the immigration officer, without presenting the residence permit issued by the St Gallen cantonal immigration department. So I was admonished by the border guard for nearly activating an alarm for over-stayers.

As usual I was among the last passengers to board the aircraft, though I made it a point to say hi to the pilots when walking down the jet bridge. 

I was greeted at the cabin by a steward and a stewardess. I couldn't help but to notice that unlike my outbound flight in February, this flight was staffed by an all Asian crew.

Finnair 81
Helsinki (HEL) – Singapore (SIN) 
Tuesday, May 31 2015
Depart: 11:55PM
Arrive: 16:40PM (+1)
Flight time: 12hr20min
Aircraft: Airbus A340-300
Seat: 31A

This time round the flight was less full so the crew was making announcements over the PA offering economy plus seats with additional legroom.

We pushed off at 12:04AM, slightly behind schedule. The continuous daylight was indeed fascinating, since it was approaching summer solstice, with the sun still not fully set by mid-night. We had a quick taxi in the continuous daylight and took off at 12:14AM.

Dinner was served about an hour after take-off. The bread was actually delicious, though the main course is only passable. The dessert however, really pales in comparison the blueberry cheesecake on the outbound from Singapore.

Again I had a Finnish beer to accompany. I guess I am beginning to fell in love with this bear brew.

Snacks were set up after meal service at the galley, though I was a little amused by the consistency of the catering both flying into and out of Helsinki.

When I woke up again we have just crossed India, with about 4 hours left before arriving in Singapore. My seat mate glanced over and told me that how amazed he was that I managed to stay asleep for nearly 6 hours continuously. I smirked and told him I managed more than 7 on the outbound from Singapore in February. 

I managed to wash up before the other passengers wake up as the cabin lights were turned on and breakfast was served.

Well, I suppose the only compliment that I can give to the breakfast was that it was perfectly edible and fully heated, which is significantly better than some lukewarm servings elsewhere, or worse cold sandwiches.

As the MBS towers began to appear on the horizon it's again the final descent into Changi. 

Conclusion

From a value for money perspective, I am well-satisfied with the service from Finnair. Granted, the Middle Eastern carriers may offer comparable fares with newer aircraft and sometimes better catering, the value proposition of Finnair is really in the short transit time in its Helsinki hub, as well as the small size and ease of navigation in the airport.

Furthermore, since I cleared Schengen immigration in Helsinki, it saves me the hassle of clearing immigration at my final destination, which can be a huge relief if arriving in CDG or FRA, where immigration queue can sometimes be quite insane. 

In addition, while it can sometimes be quite difficult to credit miles for the Middle Eastern carriers, and often the miles are discounted, I received full credit for the miles flown on Finnair, all duly credited to my American Airlines AAdvantage account.

Flying: Finnair E190 Economy Class Zurich to Helsinki 2015

Arriving at ZRH, bidding my final farewell to the SBB Flughafen Bahnhof, I was pleased to find no one at the Finnair check-in counter. However, the process did not go as smoothly as I had expected, given the counter staff here are a lot more stringent then the ones I was used to at Singapore.

Finnair 864
Zurich (ZRH) – Helsinki (HEL) 
Tuesday, May 31 2015
Depart: 7:10PM
Arrive: 10:50PM 
Flight time: 2hr40min
Aircraft: Embraer 190
Seat: 4F

There was a change of boarding gate from A63 to A62 due to operational reasons, and almost everyone else had boarded by the time I realised the gate has changed. Then again, I never bothered with boarding early.

I can't help but to realise we parked right beside a Swissair 330 and what an apt way it is to say goodbye to this country. Soon the door closed and we pushed off at 7:03PM. 

It was a fairly full load, with all but a handful seats taken up. Then again, the E190 is a small plane.

A 2 hour flight would have called for at least some refreshments such as sandwiches or snacks, and if one were travelling on a full service airline in Asia there might even be a dinner service, albeit truncated. Well, guess I would have to make do with a cup of blueberry juice.

As we started to descent after crossing the Gulf of Finland, it suddenly struck my mind that it was the moon outside the window, not the sun.

Frankly, I was already used to long daylight in summer Europe, with the sunset at 8~9PM in St Gallen. However, as we approached the polar circle, the daylight was almost lasting the entire day.

We landed slightly ahead of schedule at 10:33PM. A couple of months back when I first arrived in Helsinki, the airport was stilled covered in heavy snow, and today it was lush green patches beside the taxiway.

Somehow I just felt that planes taxi faster in Europe than in Asia and we arrived at the terminal after barely 10 minutes of taxiing, pulling over right beside an A340, which is probably the plane that's going to carry me to Singapore later.