Monday, September 01, 2008
Something Else
Recently I got some experience travelling in Europe with Finnair and Air France. Here are some interesting contrast to share with you. It tells you a bit about the airline and the people behind too.
Finnair - Scandinavians are very time conscious and efficient. When I arrive at the HK airport a little less than 90 minutes before take off time, there's no queue at the counter. I thought the flight must be pretty empty but in fact everyone had already checked in, and the ground staff was already waiting to close the counter!
The interior was tidy and quite new. Info system was top notch with very large and bright screen. Movie selection was quite international and even included choices from Japan, Korea and China. Meal serving was very fast and cleaning up was done even quicker, barely allowing enough time for any slow eater. Once the meal time was over all snacks and drink, save water, now costed extra, and there's only Pringle chips, sandwiches and soft drink. Services stopped and I had to get my own water at the back of the plane, even buying chips is no exception.
On the ground custom/immigration officers worked very fast as well, at speed comparable to officers here in Hong Kong.
Air France - French are in my mind too romantic and have too much time to burn. When I took my flight at the Paris airport at night, there's only 2 immigration counters working and a huge line up of people! And nothing was done about it as the queue continued to lengthen. I really couldn't believe this could happen in an international airport in an international city. When I get through the security procedures I only had 10 minutes left before boarding. The plane left on time though and there's no delay on arrival either.
Inside the plane everything was slightly older but only by a small degree. The info system though looked like an antique, very slow to respond and took forever to load the menu from French into English. The screen was much smaller and french movies took up considerable space. For meals it's nice one could get champagne (even at breakfast) and forks and knifes were from Phillipe Starck! And there's every snack and drink (save alcohol) you can grab for free at the back after meals. Service was comparable but Air French actually employed a Chinese translator who took up a passenger seat at the back and only did translation work. This was a novelty to me.
For speed and efficiency, choose Finnair (it actually flies to most European cities); for those who need to stopover and pick up a few bags on the way back, Air France is the only choice.
Finnair - Scandinavians are very time conscious and efficient. When I arrive at the HK airport a little less than 90 minutes before take off time, there's no queue at the counter. I thought the flight must be pretty empty but in fact everyone had already checked in, and the ground staff was already waiting to close the counter!
The interior was tidy and quite new. Info system was top notch with very large and bright screen. Movie selection was quite international and even included choices from Japan, Korea and China. Meal serving was very fast and cleaning up was done even quicker, barely allowing enough time for any slow eater. Once the meal time was over all snacks and drink, save water, now costed extra, and there's only Pringle chips, sandwiches and soft drink. Services stopped and I had to get my own water at the back of the plane, even buying chips is no exception.
On the ground custom/immigration officers worked very fast as well, at speed comparable to officers here in Hong Kong.
Air France - French are in my mind too romantic and have too much time to burn. When I took my flight at the Paris airport at night, there's only 2 immigration counters working and a huge line up of people! And nothing was done about it as the queue continued to lengthen. I really couldn't believe this could happen in an international airport in an international city. When I get through the security procedures I only had 10 minutes left before boarding. The plane left on time though and there's no delay on arrival either.
Inside the plane everything was slightly older but only by a small degree. The info system though looked like an antique, very slow to respond and took forever to load the menu from French into English. The screen was much smaller and french movies took up considerable space. For meals it's nice one could get champagne (even at breakfast) and forks and knifes were from Phillipe Starck! And there's every snack and drink (save alcohol) you can grab for free at the back after meals. Service was comparable but Air French actually employed a Chinese translator who took up a passenger seat at the back and only did translation work. This was a novelty to me.
For speed and efficiency, choose Finnair (it actually flies to most European cities); for those who need to stopover and pick up a few bags on the way back, Air France is the only choice.
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