Review of Flybe flight Paris → Manchester in Economy

This is a report of my return flight from a weekend in Paris.

After the outbound flight with Air France, this return flight with Flybe gave me the opportunity to make a comparison.

The outbound flight
http://flight-report.com/en/report-12373.html

Firstly I arrived at CDG using the frequent (even on Sundays) and efficient RER trains from the centre of Paris. My flight was from Terminal 2E which was a very pleasant and modern.



For some reason I wasn't allowed to get my bording pass using the app this time so I used the machines located in the check-in area. Luckily I didn't have any hold luggage as the queues at the check-in desks looked rather long.



I then proceeded to the Schengen border, only to be confronted by another long queue.



After getting around half way down the queue, a seperate queue was opened for those with EU passports. Those of us in the original queue were trapped in the any passport quene watching those who had just arrived pass swiftly to the checkpoint with rather annoyed me. (We British have a very strong opinion of queuing fairness which this didn't seem to meeting!)

The EU passport queue.



And the rest of us



After a long time waiting to get to the front I was let through the border quickly. Terminal 2E has a number of different piers and my flight was due to depart from gate L35 which required a trip on the airport shuttle to pier L.



Upon entering the pier you now have to go through security. Here again the queues were quite long. When I got to the scanner a load of airport workers arrived and pushed in front of me. I was left there with no belt on trying to hold up my jeans and carrying my liquids and coat while the other half of my things were on the other side of the scanner while all these people were just adding there things to the belt. I had to wait ages for my bag to finally make it through the scanner and I was getting very annoyed once they finally got through and I was reunited with my stuff.

Pier L is where many long haul flights depart and there were therefore plenty of larger AF aircraft (and others) for me to have a look at.



My gate was also right at the end of the pier with a good view of the runway



Today's flights:



I also had a bit of time to get my favourite french snack



The cafes, shops and toilets were all spread out throughout the terminal which required quite a bit of walking around.

My plane arrived



And after a short delay we were asked to board. There was no priority boarding etc here as this was a one class flight. Because I was flying on an AF code I was also given a drinks voucher. Heading down on the stairs and into the tarmac gave a good view.



We were greeted onboard by the flight attendant dressed in purple. Voucher and legs



In the seat pocket was the safety card, the in-flight magazine and the menu card.



The interior of this E170




Time to go



After the seat belt sign was switched off the refreshment service began. In french style I opted for a white wine.



There was no free snack here as there would've been on the equivalent AF flight which is a shame.

The relatively short flight was over quickly and we arrived in MAN T3.




Arriving in the terminal all passengers with EU passports where told to join the queue for the electronic passport check. As I was waiting in the queue it seemed that the machines weren't doing a very good job. Of the 4 people in front of me only one of them was let through the barrier, the others having to go and get the passports checked by a real person. When it got to my turn I too couldn't get in and had to see the border person. I haven't had this problem with the machines in the past but these were a new type I hadn't seen before and seemed to not be doing a good job. It would've been quicker to get everybody in the normal queue as it was well staffed (unlike the one in Paris). But in general it was quick and after having negotiated the maze that is MAN to get to the station it only took about 30 min from plane to train.