Review of Flybe flight Paris → Manchester in Economy

Airline Flybe
Flight BE3128
Class Economy
Seat 7D
Aircraft Embraer E-170
Flight time 01:40
Take-off 06 Dec 15, 15:40
Arrival at 06 Dec 15, 16:20
BE 73 reviews
BobbieD
By 1600
Published on 11th December 2015
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.

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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.

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

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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.

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And the rest of us

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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.

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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:

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

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

My plane arrived

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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

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



The interior of this E170

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Time to go

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

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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.

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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.
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Verdict

Flybe

7.0/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Buy-on-board menu7.0

Paris - CDG

7.0/10
Efficiency3.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness9.0

Manchester - MAN

6.6/10
Efficiency6.5
Access7.5
Services5.0
Cleanliness7.5

Conclusion

In general, the security at CDG was a bit of a mess, lots of queuing and a bit unorganised. (If you want to increase security you might want to think about putting on some more staff at the border etc).

The flight it's self was ok for a low cost carrier, however I had an AF ticket and only got a free drink - no snack provided which would've been the case on AF. The service was ok, but was better on AF.

Information on the route Paris (CDG) → Manchester (MAN)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 20 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Paris (CDG) → Manchester (MAN).

Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Air France avec 7.5/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 36 minutes.

  More information

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 152237 by
    Scott05 570 Comments
    Thank you for this return trip !
    Queeing seems to be the main theme along the report... It's amazing that Europe's second airport doesn't have a staff dedicated security lane. From my experience, security at CDG can be either a very pleasant and smooth journey or a nightmare.

    Flight wise, as you said it's a shame no snacks were provided. I seem to remember that it has been the case in the past but maybe I'm wrong. Anyway a bag of crisps wouldn't hurt anyone.
    • Comment 330009 by
      BobbieD AUTHOR 93 Comments
      Yes unfortunately lots of queuing, luckily I wasn't in a rush. I can imagine some people missing their flights with this.

      Yes a small pack of crisps wouldn't be bad (a la KLM nachos)
  • Comment 152272 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR.

    What a surprise that you found the RER frequent and efficient. The B line is one of the oldest with the most problems.
    The new cars are really nice though.

    Boarding a short haul flight from pier L is always nice as you get really close to big planes.

    I agree that even with the voucher, service is pretty limited compared to what you'd get on AF.

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