Tier Point Run to Tucson in Oct 2024: Day 7 – Malaga AGP to Helsinki HEL

At this point, I had no idea where I was within Malaga Airport, which gate I had arrived at, or where I needed to go. I later concluded the BA flight must have arrived into Gate C31 based on the returning BA flight details presented on the departures board.

After following directions to the exit, I finally saw a sign for check in, so I headed up the sloping travelator at the far end of the building.

That took me up a floor to the security checkpoint. My Finnair mobile boarding pass scanned first time, and security about 2 mins.

I found the Sala VIP Lounge easy enough by going through the large duty-free and heading right. Up some stairs and into a huge open plan area with oversized sofas and what looked like a decent selection of food.

By this point, Finnair had already texted me about a 30 min delay to my flight to Helsinki. That was going to hurt my chances of getting a Starbucks in the non-schengen part of Helsinki T2.

The flight was due to leave from the D Gates, although the airport weren’t being any more specific than that at that stage.

At 11pm, we were kicked out of the lounge, so I wandered around the airport. I was tempted to buy some Haribo, partly to help pass the time and partly because I was really hungry.

The saint on my shoulder told me that holding out for a Starbucks at Helsinki would help me lose some of the pounds I had put on in Tucson.

Looking back on the last time I did the AGP-HEL red eye, I realised I would be served breakfast at 2am. So there was absolutely no need for any Haribo.

We left from Gate D42, and boarding was managed entirely differently on this occasion.

It may have been due to us running late, but the gate team took everyone by surprise by inviting priority boarders to board really early through the central approach to the gate.

We had to wait 10 mins on the jet bridge, but it seemed they were trying their best to catch up what time they could.

On into seat 01F and I was pleased to find that  I had an empty seat next to me. Always a bonus.

We hit the runway at around 2am, and the captain advised that the flight would be around 3 hrs 40 mins due to strong tailwinds.

Bit of turbulence after taking off, but we had enough time to get a stonkingly hot towel. Finnair certainly knows how to prepare a hot towel!

Breakfast was served pretty quickly after taking off. It was OK, but nothing special. I was reacquainted with blueberry juice, which was as nice this time as the first time.

The business cabin was huge but it was almost empty.

Afte eating, I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t find any support for my head. Next time, I need to bring a neck pillow. PLEASE REMEMBER!

The turbulence was frequent and at times was quite violent. The number of times I heard the recorded message saying (something like) « We have turned the belt sign, the toilets out of action and the service is has stopped. We will start it again soon… »

We arrived into Gate 14 at Helsinki airport Terminal 1. My next flight was due to leave from Terminal 2, Gate 44, beyond passport control. That was a longer distance than last time. I’ll have to jog the whole way.

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