Good afternoon from Calgary International Airport! My name is Alex, and for once, I’m actually flying
with an international carrier from here! Today, I’m off to Frankfurt on board the
newest addition to YYC’s airline lineup - German carrier Eurowings Discover!
Eurowings Discover is Lufthansa’s long-haul vacation airline, generally serving lower-yielding
leisure routes with a fleet of A320s and A330s. They started seasonal flights to Calgary in
August, supplementing Air Canada’s existing flights to Frankfurt. They’ll stop service for
the season at the end of October, so I knew this is one flight I wanted to try while it was still
around. Except, there’s a bit of a catch. As you’ve no doubt guessed from the title
and thumbnail, we aren’t exactly flying on a Eurowings plane, but rather, this Airbus
A350-900 from Finland’s national airline Finnair, registered as Oscar Hotel Lima Whiskey Golf.
Thanks to a shortage of crews, Finnair A350s have been operating the Calgary flights for
Eurowings Discover, under a wet lease agreement. That means that while the service will still be
standard with other Eurowings flights, the aircraft and the crew are from Finnair.
It’s a very interesting arrangement, and a pretty exciting one for local Calgary
aviation enthusiasts like myself. It also works out nicely for Finnair, since they have unused
aircraft of their own due to their proximity to a certain country, and airspace restrictions.
Because of Eurowings’ affiliation with Lufthansa, that means they still share a
few things with other Star Alliance carriers. In fact, I actually booked this flight through
Aeroplan, which, when you think about it, is pretty weird to be using Air Canada’s loyalty
program to book a seat on a Oneworld plane. Long story short, I found a pretty reasonable
deal and ended up booking Business Class on this flight.
Most of Eurowings’ A330s have basically the same cabin as Lufthansa’s, but knowing that
Finnair seats were gonna be different, and on an A350, made that a pretty easy decision.
Speaking of the A350, this is indeed my first time flying on one! This seasonal flight is the first
time Calgary has had a scheduled A350 service outside of diversions or technical stops, so it’s
a type I just hadn’t had the chance to fly on yet. Needless to say, I was pretty excited for this!
In Calgary, Eurowings Discover Business Class ticket holders have access to the Aspire lounge
in the International terminal, which is up a set of elevators and looks over the U.S. gates.
It was pretty busy tonight making it a bit tricky to find a seat. The food selection
though wasn’t bad at all, with soup, vegetable lasagna, roasted vegetables, ginger chicken,
and rice making up the hot food options. There was plenty else to choose from, including
banana bread and brownies for dessert, plus some cold options as well. Drinks were also readily
available, though it seemed like there were more alcoholic options than there were otherwise.
Still though, not at all a bad way to start this trip. Free food is free food, after all.
Eventually, I made my way down to gate 76 for boarding. One thing I’ll say is that
Eurowings’ turnaround times in Calgary seem pretty ambitious, since, according to the flight history,
it hasn’t left on time once since it started. One funny thing I overheard while waiting around
is that Air Canada apparently wouldn’t let Eurowings use their boarding signs,
so there wasn’t a ton of direction at the gate. Boarding eventually started about half an hour
late, but with no connection in Frankfurt to worry about this time, I was just excited
to finally fly on an A350. Let’s go see what Eurowings Discover and Finnair have in store!
My seat for today is 7L, in the forward Business Class cabin.
This is Finnair’s older style of seat, which they’ve since replaced with a newer
and quite unique one that made headlines for not actually being able to recline.
I wasn’t expecting to get those seats anyway,
since Finnair wouldn’t use their new flagship interiors on a wet lease like this.
Waiting at the seat was this Eurowings branded pillow and a blanket too.
Settling into the seat, it feels just a bit narrow but there’s lots of legroom and I knew
I was going to be decently comfortable here.
However, there’s one other reason I booked that
Business Class ticket, and it’s for this spectacular engine view. You can only get
this sort of angle from the forward Business Class cabin anyway, and I could not wait to hear these
two Rolls Royce Trent XWBs spooling up.
While we’ve got some time, let’s take a closer look around the seat.
Starting at the back, there’s these adjustable
headrests which had Eurowings headrest covers (or antimacassars as YouTube comments have told
me). You’ve also got this reading light, a remote for the inflight entertainment,
a dual-prong audio jack, USB port, universal power outlet, and then the seat controls.
Further on the right is this little storage cutout with a hook to hang something,
maybe a hat, I guess. Waiting at the seat was also
this Lufthansa Business Class amenity kit, along with the menu for today’s flight.
The tray table pops out from the side of the seat and flips out for some extra space,
but it doesn’t actually move. Also on the window side was a complimentary
water bottle and a literature pocket. Below the footrest is a convenient spot to put
your shoes, which very unfortunately had someone’s old socks hiding there. Don’t love that.
Anyway, then there’s the footrest itself, along with the in-flight entertainment screen, which
pops out to face you with the press of a button. On the left side, there’s also a coat hook and
this storage compartment next to the armrest. In there was a pair of fairly
generic-looking headphones that I wasn’t exactly planning on using.
There’s also this movable armrest that pops up with this button too.
One thing I didn’t notice when I walked in, is that Finnair decided not to put any overhead bins
in the middle. That’s an interesting choice that makes the cabin feel way more open,
but overhead bin space becomes quite a bit harder to come by.
Even so, I could not get enough of this mood lighting! The cabin really does look nice,
and even though Finnair’s A350s are some of the earliest built, they’ve held up really nicely.
I do love all the little Finnair details throughout the seat,
right down to the logos on the seatbelt! A cabin crew member soon came around with
pre departure drinks, and I just went for a cold glass of water.
Later on, the crew also gave out these adapters for the headphone jacks.
As our flight crew welcomed us on board, here’s a quick look at the surprisingly-elaborate menu.
I knew pretty quickly we were going to be eating very well on this flight.
"Welcome aboard our flight to Frankfurt. I'm sorry that our departure is a little bit delayed today,
we are still waiting for a few passengers and the loading is still going for a while.
We think that in 10 minutes we will be ready to start our engines. We have a pretty nice
tailwind with us today so our flight time today is only 8 hours and 40 minutes."
Just before we pushed back, this video played further explaining the arrangement between
Finnair and Eurowings. Definitely a nice touch and probably pretty useful for some
less savvy travellers who wouldn’t know the first thing about a wet lease like this.
With that, we were pushing back and on our way across the Atlantic, and here’s our departure
from Calgary, taking off from runway 17L!
Well, THAT takeoff was everything I was hoping for!
Shame it was so smoky, but given which side I was sitting on, it would’ve been pretty backlit
if not for that, so I definitely can’t complain! As I settled into the seat and admired the mood
lighting some more, a cabin crew member came around with hot towels before the meal service.
While I waited for that to start, I figured I’d try out my bed for tonight.
Finnair’s old Business Class seat folds fully flat, offering a pretty good amount of space.
Like most lie-flat seats though, the footwell does feel just a bit restrictive. That’s probably more
of a me issue though since I don’t actually fit the entire length of the bed anyway.
I do sleep on my side though and bending my knees is a necessity, but it didn’t really
feel like there was much room for that, either. Despite the smoke outside, that wing view more
than made up for it. I don’t think anyone can deny the fact that the A350 winglet is a work of art.
So far, I’ve gotta say, the A350 is very impressive. And I’m not just talking about
that wing view there, but also the huge windows (something that’s been
missing on other Airbus planes), and the super sleek interior.
Eventually, a cabin crew member took my order for the meal service as the sun went down.
Pretty soon, this small bowl of nuts was handed out as well as a drink. I went for the
Signature Cocktail from Calgary which was pretty tasty. I think it’d be difficult to nail down
exactly what “Calgary” would taste like, and this ended up tasting a bit like grapefruit.
About an hour after takeoff, this tablecloth appeared on everyone’s
tray tables, as well as the starter for tonight. I went with the “From Nordic Waters” starter,
which had a plate of marinated prawns (or shrimp, as I’m more used to calling them),
with a fennel salad with tomatoes, red peppers, and carrots. That also came with a bread roll and
this salad of mixed lettuce with feta cheese and balsamic dressing, along with a glass of water.
The shrimp were really nicely seasoned, and worked surprisingly well with the fennel salad.
The bread roll was actually soft and tasted amazing, and even the salad, which I wouldn’t
normally be a fan of, tasted very good with that dressing. All in all, a great start!
For the main course, I picked the “Goodbye Calgary”, partly
out of sheer irony since I live there, but also for the braised short rib, which case
in a red wine Demi glacé (and other things I’m too uncultured to be reading off a script),
plus roasted potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. The beef was genuinely cooked to perfection
and I honestly couldn’t have enough of it. That sauce worked so well with it and the potatoes,
and it’s almost a crime that I had a bunch left over without anything else to eat it with.
Lastly, the plates were cleared, and I had a salted caramel cheesecake for dessert,
plus a strawberry on a raspberry coulis… he says with great confidence that he
definitely knows what he’s talking about. Regardless, this was some amazing catering,
and Eurowings really surprised me with what would probably be a “mainline Lufthansa” quality meal.
Speaking of Lufthansa, the amenity kit is another Lufthansa Business Class one like I said before,
and it’s identical to the one I got on their 747-400 a few months ago.
This, admittedly, quite useful shopping bag contains all the items,
which included a pair of socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste,
an eye mask, a peppermint, earplugs, some hand cream, and these covers for the headphones.
As the cabin lights dimmed, it was time for bed, but not without a
look at the in-flight entertainment first. Finnair has a pretty standard selection on
their system, with the usual movies, TV shows, music, and games available. There’s also some
steeply priced wifi available for purchase, plus a moving map, and probably the coolest
feature of the A350 (which I should definitely have looked at sooner), the exterior cameras!
Obviously there’s not much to look at right now, but I knew I‘d for sure be leaving
this on for the rest of the flight! With just the beacon light flashing
on screen to lull me to sleep, I settled in and tried to make myself comfortable.
I woke up a bit early as the sun rose over eastern Greenland, and was rewarded with
this incredible view from the tail camera and the snow-covered landscape below.
For some reason, I couldn’t really get comfortable and only slept on and off for about 2 hours or so.
One of the drawbacks of this cabin layout is that, no matter how you sleep,
your neighbour’s in-flight entertainment screen is still shining right into your seat,
and in my case, at full brightness too. Although lie-flat seats are a marvel of
modern airline experiences, and this is something I could never have imagined
flying as a kid, I do see why Finnair is in the process of updating their cabins.
The lavatory near Door R2 was very clean and surprisingly stylish.
Not only is it pretty roomy, but the design feels very Nordic and minimalist in a good way!
Also here was an odour spray plus some hand cream.
Another thing I have to say is that the Finnair cabin crew were all so friendly,
and after I left the lavatory there, one of them offered to get me something to drink.
We got a brief glimpse at Iceland as the cabin lights got a bit brighter
and the crew started the breakfast service.
While I waited for that to reach me, here’s a look at the literature pocket contents, which
was just a leftover insert from another menu, as well as the safety card for Finnair’s A350.
Eventually, the breakfast tray appeared, and on it was a plate of Greek yogurt on muesli,
along with some scrambled eggs, plus some sliced sausage, which I will not disgrace
the German language by even attempting to pronounce, with a pickle and some celery.
Lastly there was another bread roll with some butter and marmalade.
The muesli was a surprisingly tasty combination, and the eggs, although they
looked a bit watery, tasted great too. With breakfast out of the way, I got up
to explore the cabin a bit. Finnair’s old A350 interior has 297 seats in two different classes.
Up front in the forward business class cabin are 8 rows of seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.
Past the second set of doors is a smaller Business cabin, with 4 rows in the same 1-2-1 layout.
However, Eurowings Discover sells these seats as Premium Economy,
which would no doubt be quite a steal. It wasn’t an option when I was looking on Aeroplan though,
and I’d assume the only major difference is that the meal services are slightly less elaborate.
Finally, the rest of the plane is Economy Class, with 251 seats in
the A350’s standard 3-3-3 configuration. I think the real test of the A350’s comfort
would be back here, especially comparing the seat width to equivalent planes like the 777 and 787.
I’ll have to find another A350 at some point and give it a proper try.
"We are already descending towards our destination Frankfurt ..."
With that, my first flight on the A350 came to a close,
and here’s the arrival into Frankfurt, landing on runway 25R.
"Dear guests, now it's time to say goodbye to you."
So, that was Finnair’s Airbus A350! What a cool experience it was flying the A350 for the first
time, and in such unique circumstances too! The on-board offering was seriously impressive.
Despite Eurowings Discover sort of being a Lufthansa-light, nothing about that meal service
was “light”, at least in terms of complexity. That was definitely a highlight, although on the
other side of the same subject, it’s interesting that they just reused the Lufthansa amenity kit
without bothering to differentiate it. As for Finnair themselves, the crew were
all very friendly and very open to chatting about the unique nature of these flights.
I can see why the cabins are getting a bit of a refresher though. I just didn’t get a lot of sleep
since the seat was a bit narrow around my knees and it was really tricky to get comfortable.
Ironically, just based on my experience with Lufthansa’s 747, the normal Eurowings
Discover Business Class may have actually been more comfortable, at least for me.
Regardless of that though, I really enjoyed this flight for the combination of flying
an A350 for the first time, out of my home airport, with an airline I never expected
to see in Calgary, let alone fly with. So, if Eurowings Discover does come back
to Calgary next year but with their own planes instead, I’ll definitely give them another shot,
but in the meantime, I’m very glad I flew this unique, if not temporary flight, with Finnair.
Thank you so much for watching this special
transatlantic trip report, and I’ll catch you next time!