Norway is quite a distance away from Hong Kong. At the peak summer season, I was worried it would be a costly flight even if going the long way through the Middle East. Luckily, Finnair had a very affordable fare of just over HKD$5600 with a short stopover in Helsinki. While I have visited Helsinki before, I was flexible to take a 2-day break here to head outside the city, where I wasn't able to cover last time.
Advertising themselves as a quick way to Europe, the advertised flight times are great - 10.5 hours into Finland and just 1.5 hours more into Oslo. This journey into Europe would be far less punishing than through Dubai.
I had flown in from Hong Kong the day before (see flight report here : https://www.hkitalk.net/HKiTalk2/thread-1160557-1-1.html). After less than 24 hours in Finland and a good recharging break in Porvoo just outside of Helsinki, I headed back to the city well ahead of my departure, squeezing in a little more sightseeing before my evening flight to Oslo. Having pre-booked one of many buses that ply the short distance between Helsinki and Porvoo, this part of my trip would only set me back 4.2 euros, cheaper than the airport train.
My flight out would depart just past 7pm, so I had a whole afternoon to explore a bit more of Helsinki.
I looked for the joint where I had salmon soup on my first visit to Helsinki in 2009. I think I found it. This dish is great to dip the bread in!
The airport is conveniently connected to the city by the ring commuter rail, a new development since my prior visit. The travel time is a perfectly manageable half hour.
The airport train station is deep underground. Being new, it has all the necessary equipment to help heavy luggage-laden passengers reach the surface.
Once air-side, I noticed a mix of wide corridors like in a typical international airport, as well as more cozier corners with elegant designs and lots of natural light. There isn't enough space for everyone to sit comfortably though.
Browsing the departures board, Helsinki is quite well connected to the rest of Europe.
In this part of Europe, they know how to use wood furnishings right.
However, the airport is not able to cope with its success. There are occasional crowds at the various bottleneck points.
I snatched up a window seat at the front of the plane. Similar to my prior regional flight with Finnair to Warsaw, today's flight is operated by Norra, a subsidiary. We took off into a cloudy sky.
Finnair's blueberry juice is a unique offering and tastes quite good.
There is no free food on these short haul flights. The to-pay food menu on board has a lot of options but at only 1.5 hours, I didn't have an urge to eat dinner on board.
The weather cleared out nicely over Norway as we descended into Oslo, but I couldn't spot the fjords along here.
Oslo's airport is also a nice facility with good use of wood and a bit more variety in planes.
