Here’s an inside look at some of the remote, roundabout routings that Finnair is having to operate…
Continue reading: Video: Fascinating Look At Finnair’s Polar Routes
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Many European airlines take the north pole route from Japan, not just Finnair - in fact I have been on the exact same route on LX161 some days ago (from Norway onwards heading south over Sweden to ZRH).
Some of the crew were equally enthusiastic about that special route and there were 4 cockpit crew for this flight, it is currently LX longest.
The most bizarre and wonderful avgeeky thing about LX161 taking the polar route is that this flight normally is a day flight, departing Japan around noon and arriving at Zurich in the evening. However now heading east it is an overnight over to Alaska (minus one day) and catching the sunset again over Sweden (in winter).
Fascinating stuff!
Wow. Are you kidding? How come so many people are having a problem getting this? I got mine BEFORE the pandemic and am coming up on a renewal before some have even switched over. Crazy to me.
It's pretty ridiculous at this point lol. Going to take 20 years to implement if they don't extend til 2040
I dont get it either but i guess my state has been putting them on their license this whole time and figured with out frequency of required renewals everyone in texas has a new TSA approved real ID.
Ben, this blog goes from strength to strength. In the past hour, I’ve learned a little trick that will position me better with Air France mileage redemptions, met an intriguing future flight to the Gulf, and now picked up a wonderful aspirational flight through a beautifully produced video. Keep this going!
Hi Ben,
You might be disappointed regarding - "I’m putting this flight on my bucket list for the summer, because I’d love to experience this when it’s not dark outside." I checked the Finnair site for this routing on June 21, 2023. No direct Finnair flight (NRT-HEL) on that day comes up. I didn't see the direct routing coming up after March 2023.
Big praise to Gabriel Leigh from Flightradar24, who video reviews flights in such a relaxed but thorough manner. Best man doing this out there. Not these lengthy and self-absorbed videos like from most of this other Scandinavian nonstop dude.
It must be much longer. Do they price accordingly for people's time or award points accordingly?
It flies from HND. AY operates both from NRT and HND, just no NRT departure flight that day.
How can you allowed in the cockpit while in the air.totally a breach of current IATA and all airline policy please clarify
Beautiful video. Wow! I have added this North Pole flight to my must experience list. Ben, thank you.
I flew the polar route with Finair both ways 37 years ago on a DC10, the flight from Helsinki to Tokyo took staggering (at that time) 14 hours and 16 minutes, because of very strong head wind, only after the arrival in Tokyo we vere told that a refuelling stop at Anchorage was actually considered by the crew. I guess it was a more demanding job for the crew on a DC10 37 years ago. I may go to Japan this fall (my life´s last trip to Japan) and it would be by Finair again, probably taking the southern route to Tokyo and the polar route back. Anyway. many thanks for the great video, the polar flight on an A350 seems to be a piece of cake.
Are you sure about the "many European airlines"? As far as I know, Finair and Swiss are the only two european airlines flying the North Pole route. The other airlines fly thru the polar area, but not close to the North Pole. Or am I missing something?
I'm sort of a nervous flyer (getting rattled by turbulence, if I don't remember to think about the ships and waves and about imagining ground beneath my feet. However I'm hella excited about taking the polar express to Tokyo because the views are gonna be awesome. Pity we won't be going after the fall equinox because then it would be dark at points and have a good chance for aurora borealis. Oh well... 🙂
I flew Doha to Seattle last April and was astonished to watch the flight path, and out the window on a daytime flight, as we flew over Iran and then Russia and then the N Pole. The sea ice looked thick near the Pole and in Canada, but broken in Russian waters. I was cozy in my Qatar pjs and QSuites bed, with a dropped jaw most of the trip. The vid did explain one thing that baffled me, though - at the Pole, the direction markers on my screen were going nuts, as a compass would. But when, as the narrator said, satellite connections are lost, then compasses must be in operation. Then we dropped straight south over the Canadian Arctic into Seattle. On our flight, nobody said a thing about the polar route. Im sure there were passengers who missed the whole thing.