Review of Air France flight from Paris to Stockholm in Economy

This was a short business trip, not my first one to ARN and probably not the last one. It had been planned before the summer vacations and there had therefore been no problem of seat availability on the AF flights which are chronically full. The OLCI at ETD-30h exemplified this: the only free seat options were the only remaining window seat and two middle seats.

I left my office slightly too late, resulting in heavy traffic all the way to CDG, but my time margin was well enough to not worry, and reached the FIDS at Terminal 2F, dedicated to AF’s Schengen Area flights.

Nothing special about my flight highlighted here

It was not a peak traffic time slot: the landside hall was remarkably empty. I obtained a new BP from one of these machines, but their thin thermal paper is unfortunately very easily crumpled.

I had never seen so few passengers at the security check of CDG-2F

Surprise: at the sight of my BP, a staff told me to place my hand luggage in this gauge. He was not interested in the volume constraints: I had to place both my suitcase and my laptop case in order to check the total weight.

No problem with the 12 kg limit, and I could have taken my jacket in my suitcase, stuffing computer accessories in its pockets, if needed. An LCC evolution for AF or a means to have more passengers check in luggage on this fully booked flight? My first impression was the first hypothesis, but the second one was more likely, because my flight was ostensibly targeted.
What I found aggravating was that they were using a weight limit which was irrelevant since the issue was the volume, but a trained staff could easily spot oversized hand luggage and use the dimension gauge for that purpose?

An amusing dialogue at the security check:
- Do you have a belt?
- Yes
- Where is it?
- Well, I do not remember if it is in my suitcase or my laptop bag. Do you really need to know?
No, he did not care where I have put my belt after removing it from my trousers before reaching the security check …
The staff there was courteous (this was infamously not the case in CDG a decade ago), and I had no reason to address the so-called « zone manager » .

The weather was not downright awful, but it did not facilitate plane spotting either, with a light drizzle and a severely overcast sky. A KL 738 seen before reaching the jetty.

An d the same seen from the jetty

An aircraft registered in the European Union since three years ago, amid aircraft which may no longer be registered in the UE three years from now.

Czech A319

Italian A320, seen from the end of the jetty

The crowd in the jetty was similar to that at the security check, i.e. negligible. This undersized place is usually crowded with passengers trying to form lines for boarding..

Terminal 2F is not very interesting from the plane spotter’s perspective, and the weather was no good, so I addressed my priority #2, which was getting something to eat. I knew from experience that the food served by AF on its flights is not a real dinner, and that there is nothing reasonably healthy to eat in Stockholm when you land late in the evening. I was not going to find what I needed in the corridor on the way to the jetties: I had doubts about the acceptability of an expense claim for luxury food items.

This was the kind of vending machine that I wanted to avoid at my destination

But I could maybe find something more adequate in the small serve-serve food court in the lower level in the center of the jetty.

This food court is wheelchair accessible, although the elevator is not clearly marked. I guess that a passenger was not a very good wheelchair driver.

The prices were typical of an airside shop : that was all you could get with 4.50 EUR.

I dis not waste my company’s money buying water at 4,600 EUR / m3.

Even when the only water fountain in the jetty is out of order

I only needed to drink some water from the taps in the toilets downstairs. The pictogram for the baby care room is still female, but this room was accessible to all.

Its decoration is in stark contrast with that of the rest of the terminal

The partition in the far end hides a tiny toilet seat, of adequate size for the youngest children who could use one (on the other hand, the toilet paper dispenser was at adult level).

Back to the main level : there was an ample supply of newspapers in the gangways linking both sides of the jetty, with a quite wide array of French daily newspapers (Le Monde, Le Figaro, la Croix, Libération, l’Humanité, l’Equipe, les Echos…), and also a few foreign ones too.

The free wifi internet access provided me the home page of Flight Report, with the English version of one of my latest reports.

The flight is listed on time

A rather untidy (but good enough for the purpose) line formed on the Economy side, while the Skypriority passengers boarded.

For registration number geeks

This was not my row (where the other passengers were already seated), but it looked the same.

Minimal reclining

The seats have a built-in headrest, but mine did not hold very well and would probably not keep a sleeping passenger’s head from falling sideways.

The seat pitch was a bad surprise. Twenty centimeters from the seat limit to the magazine pocket on the back of the seat ahead was not much for a passenger above the median European adult size (unlike me). For a reference, you get 26 cm in an AF 777, admittedly used for long haul flights only.

The seat had the same width between armrests as in the said 777, and the armrests had the same minimal thickness.

On the other hand, there was much more space between the seat and the fuselage than in a 777. To sum it up, you get more seat width and less seat pitch in that short haul aircraft than in AF’s long haul workhorse.

My measuring tape mania generated uncontrolled giggles from the two Swedish ladies in my row, by the way.
There was a standard bilingual request on the PA to request each passenger to place as much as possible his hand luggage under the seat in front of him (except in exit rows) because the flight was full, and that hand luggage which could not fit anywhere would be placed with the checked luggage. It seemed to me that it did not happen.

Plane spotting through my window was limited by the weather : this AF A318 parked at the next gate was reasonably visible

It is tougher when the planes are parked further away (Air Serbia A320 and Austrian A321 in special livery)

An Air Seychelles A330 will fly to a warmer and sunnier place

And this Norwegian 787 operates the brand new CDG-EWR line

We’ll have a maximum of 3,880 meters from here to be airborne

A TK A330 will leave afterwards

The ceiling was very very low : I did not even get to see the A320 parked for training purposes near the end of this runway.

Sunset on a sea of clouds

The sunset and the seat cover gave me little hope for preparing another illustrated geography course.

But no need to despair prematurely : this is Rotterdam

The sky became darker and darker

It was not over though : this was Amsterdam

The meal was served like this

The same after unwrapping.
There were more giggles from my neighbors when they saw my measuring tape again. I prefer laughing neighbors to frowning neighbors.

To the future of Flight Report !

The last lights of the sunset

Thanks to RL 777, we have a detailed identification of this area, which was shot looking north-west. E18 motorway, E4 motorway and Road 275 form a rough square in the center of the picture. For more details, read the comment of RL 777 (thanks again !).

The ”dotted line" lighting of Road 265 (Länsväg 265), between Täby Kyrkby and Hagbylund (thanks again, RL 777 !)

A rather hard landing, taxiing to the far end of Terminal 2 where AF’s planes are usually parked.

Last turn

There is no separation of departing and arriving passengers, but the terminal was empty and the few shops were shuttered.

Nothing to report on going through the luggage delivery room and then past the customs officers who never “randomly” question me; some walking landside to the end of the terminal to reach the access to the Arlanda Express train. Buying a roundtrip ticket on the ATM is extremely fast; there are ATMs on the platform too.

Going down to the platform of the Arlanda Express with a single escalator of a commendable length, as is usually the case in Stockholm.

One of the benches on the platform. Note that there is a free wifi both on the platform and in the train.

The train was quite empty. I happened to board a car half equipped in a bar-like layout. The “office” of the staff checking the tickets on board is on the right.

In round numbers, it was 10°C colder than in CDG, and 20°C colder than in KIX where I was one week before.

Arrival in 20 minutes in Stockholm’s central station ("T-Centralen")

Once there, I crossed the eerily empty central station’s hall.

I had the impression of waiting endlessly at the check-in, because it was late and because one the staff left the counter and never returned, leaving only one person for handling incoming customers. It actually took me 9 minutes to reach this corridor which looked to me more like that of the vault level of a bank.

Did Radisson Blu detect my interest the accessibility of airport facilities ?

The bathroom of this room seemed to meet the most exacting standards of accessibility for handicapped persons.

My business meeting ended relatively early the next day, and since the sunset would be late enough, I could have a long walk in the city center and provide a small tourist bonus.
The narrow steeple of St Clara Church, located very close to the central station, can be seen from far away, for good reason : its 116 m height makes it the second tallest in Scandinavia, behind that of the cathedral of Uppsala. On the other hand, the surrounding trees and buildings make it very difficult to take a picture of the entire church.

The inside of this beautiful church dated from the second half of the 16th century

The organ’s façade in the extremity of the nave

On the other hand, the Riddarholmen church, seen here from the City Hall…

… can be easily seen from close up.

Stockholm was built on a maze of waterways : it is one of the capitals where you can see the largest number of boats in the city center: a cruise ship here (and a tourist boat in the foreground)

Ferry to Åland and Finland

This three mast fully rigged ship is now a youth hostel.

The other sailboat is much smaller, but you can sleep in her too.

And a very small one (Laser)

The Royal Palace in Gamla Stan Island

Is there any more cliché sight than the changing of the guard in front of the royal palace of a European monarchy?

There is no discrimination by size

Or by sex

The guard being changed was yet another size, but all four soldiers never aligned for a picture

The City Hall, built in 1923, is a rather formidable building when seen streetside

"Streetside", because it is built alongside a wide channel

The inner court is open until very late at night

It provides the access to the park next to the waterway.

The 106 meter tall tower

One of the statues in the park next to the waterway (Dancer)

This park offers the best view on Ridderholmen Island

And seen from the same place, a Braathens Avro RJ-100 descending towards BMA (Bromma), the secondary airport in Stockholm where this airline operates domestic flights (there are flights to BRU, AAR and HEL, too).

Thanks for reading me !