Welcome to the Planetflyer website, with flying-related stories from being a passenger to being an aviation nut and geeking out in museums. You can also click on the map below to see where in the world they took place.
The Planetflyer articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, caving, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, swimming, and saunas.
All flying-related articles:
| Car's home is at the airport March was busy, apparently. My car was parked at the airport for 22 days, and in addition it was parked on some other travel destinations for 3 more days. So all in all, 25 days away in March. That's too much... Full story Alternate link April 2026, Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland Car; Travel; Flying | |
| KLM Experience from Helsinki I had to take a KLM flight as I was heading to a destination that Finnair doesn't fly to, or has too expensive connection with another airline. It was a decent experience, on some flights KLM has a sandwich and a small piece of banana bread, on others they have a small dry waffle. But smooth transition. Their 30-minutes-to-boarding-the-next-flight transition did involve a 27-minute walk, but I made it :-) Full story Alternate link April 2026, Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland Flying | |
| Swimming with a 747 staring at you from the window Corendon hotel, near the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. A six-hour layover requires something else than sitting at the airport seats. So I found a spa at the Corendon hotel. Nice, small spa with a sauna and a steam room, a nice curving pool and small baby pool. As I was floating in the pool, the realization stuck me: a 747 was starting me straight from the window. Full story Alternate link April 2026, Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Flying | |
| Shenzhen airport I did not have the opportunity to fly through Shenzhen airport on my visit in Shenzhen, but I've been there before. I did drive by it, however. Full story Alternate link March 2026, Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, Shenzhen, China Flying; Travel | |
| Dragon Claw Cave, Hong Kong The Dragon Claw Cave, or 龍爪洞 as it is known in Chinese is a sea cave at the end of a small bay in the peninsula that extends between the South Bay Beach and Ching Hom Kok Beach, in Hong Kong. There's a nice but challenging path from the South Bay Beach to near cave, but as you near the cave the path turns into more difficult, at some point other hikers warned of a wild boar, then the path required an assisting rope, and then further down ... I didn't dare climb all the way down for the last 20 meters, for a fear of falling to the sea. But it is a beautiful cave even from this distance! Full story Alternate link March 2026, Dragon Claw Cave, Repulse Bay, Hong Kong; South Bay Beach, Repulse Bay, Hong Kong; HKIA, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Caving (None, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach, Outdoor); Flying | |
| Day trip to Latvia, part three Rīgas lidosta Riga's airport, RIX, is located south of the city, in the community of Mārupe. The airport is also a hub for Air Baltic. I have been here before, but just transiting on Air Baltic. Now I flew here on Finnair, and back on the same day, on the day trip to ski and caves in Latvia... found a lounge that serves families as well as business travelers. Nice! Full story Alternate link February 2026, Rīgas lidosta, Riga, Latvia Flying; Travel | |
| Tallinna Lennujaam Had a chance to fly to Tallinn for a day trip (skiing, caving, and a spa). It was an early flight on a slow Sunday morning; wonderful airport, spectacular sunrise, and overall smooth experience. Except maybe waiting few minutes for my rental cars, there was no waiting or long walks or any of the other complexities usually involved with international travel. Full story Alternate link January 2026, Tallinna Lennujaam, Tallinn, Estonia Flying; Travel | |
| Oulu Airport Managed to visit Oulu airport on the way to ski at Pyhä; flights to Rovaniemi and especially car rental prices there were exorbitant, so Oulu was a good backup choice. Three more hours to drive, but ... much cheaper. And as it turned out, less of a hassle as Rovaniemi airport became a disaster zone during the storm season in end of 2025, as many flights were cancelled and hundreds of tourists had to camp at the airport. Can't understand why better accommodations couldn't be organized, in local schools, emergency shelters, etc. Finavia, are you doing anything about this??? Full story Alternate link December 2025, Oulun lentokenttä, Oulu, Finland Travel; Flying | |
| Long delay when a BA 787 turned around I was coming back from Montreal, when the incoming plane turned around, reportedly due to one the GPSes failing, and that not being allowed for an overseas flight. This caused a six hour delay on our departure from Montreal. On the positive side we had lounge access to the Air France lounge (that BA uses) and amazingly they extended their closing time from 10pm to half past midnight to accommodate the waiting passengers. Well done! Full story Alternate link November 2025, Montreal Airport, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom; Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland Flying; Travel | |
| Lufthansa banana bread vs. Finnair cinnamon roll Had the Lufthansa 3.90€ banana bread today. It was ok, but really no comparison to Finnair's massive - and heated - cinnamon rolls that they nowadays serve in business class instead of champagne. Full story Alternate link November 2025, Frankfurt Airport, Frankfurt, Germany Travel; Flying | |
| October ski weekend at Levi It has been a while since I skied properly. I skied in July at an indoor ski resort in Madrid and Oslo, and in June also in Oslo. But after that in August and September only on some snow piles outside ice skating halls... so it was time to ski again! Last year for October I went for a day trip to Levi (alt. link), but while fun that was a gruelingly tiresome travel and way too short time in Levi. So this year I went for the whole weekend. Full story Alternate link October 2025, Levi, Kittilä, Finland; Levi Hotel, Kittilä, Finland; Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland; Kittilän lentokenttä, Kittilä, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Walking; Hiking; Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Flying; Travel | |
| Flying Finnair's washed A321s Finnair has managed yet another unnecessary screw-up: washing their A321 seat covers using water, when dry cleaning would have been the approved method to avoid the fire repellent treatment to deteriorate. The previous screw-ups included ground collisions that damaged one of their wide body aircraft for instance. And this is on top of the incredibly long period of strikes and flight cancellations. Full story Alternate link October 2025, Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland Flying; Travel | |
| Athens airport Had a chance to fly to and from the Athens airport, coming in on KLM and flying out with Lufthansa. It is a nice airport. Not having had time to eat breakfast, I particularly liked that the even at the downstairs bus gates there were kiosks with warm food on offer. Usually those kinds of gates are void of any services. Well done. Full story Alternate link October 2025, Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, Spata, Greece Flying; Travel | |
| Montreal. Busses all the way. Arrived in Montreal for IETF. Last leg on a 747, the bus, just in time before there’s a public transport strike. And the previous leg was a rare chance to ride a mobile lounge from the plane to the airport, before that a 787 and a 350 and a 740 😀 Was good to start discussions already during the trip, many friends on same flights and buses ❤ Full story Alternate link October 2025, Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland; Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom; Montreal Airport, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Travel; Flying | |
| Tivat Airport - Kai Tak of Europe Had a chance to fly to Tivat, Montenegro. On Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, and Air Baltic. The airport is called the Kai Tai of Europe given the tight maneuvering needed to land there. Full story Alternate link September 2025, Tivat Airport, Mrčevac, Montenegro Flying; Travel | |
| I ordered a snow taxi, again These are challenging times, these are September times. Full story Alternate link September 2025, Ritorps ishall, Ulriksdahls idrottsplats, Solna, Sweden; Cyloq Arena, Sollentuna, Sweden; Medley Solna Simhall, Ulriksdahls idrottsplats, Solna, Sweden; Medley Sollentuna sim- och sporthall, Sollentuna, Sweden; Sundbybergs Simhall & Gym, Sundbyberg, Sweden; Arlanda, Sweden Skiing (None); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Hiking); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water, None); Sauna (Normal, None); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal); Flying | |
This is the 1th set of articles. The next sets are set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, and set 9.