Hello everybody !
As you may be aware, Air France has organized several special flights to welcome the Boeing 787 9 in it's fleet. Those flights consisted in loops over various parts of France thus this special routing from CDG to CDG.
I was among many members of Flight Reports to enjoy these flights and wanted to share this experience the english speaking community so i translated my report. If you already read it in french you can skip it ;-)
The Boeing 787 is not new to me but i had flown the last flight of the Air France 747 and wanted to take part of this festive occasion.
The flight was scheduled early and waking up at 4:30 on a Sunday was part of the challenge. A dedicated check in area was available for the flight.
The Air France staff handed out the special boarding pass and a leaflet on the Boeing 787 9. Special security and passport lines were organized so going through the process was very fast.
We took the train to the M gates of the terminal ( the best in CDG) where our flight was leaving. Vintage photo sessions on the tarmac were organized where you could wear old outfits etc. This was very fun but i'll keep the pictures confidential !
It was cold outside so we headed to the lounge and had a full breakfast with omelette, sausages, cheese and of course Champagne, Billecart Salmon, to celebrate this special day.
Skypriority passengers were invited to board first and the boarding staff were very cheerful and efficient.
it's not everyday that you can walk through a guard of honor to board your plane.
The crew at the door was very enthusiastic and smiling and exceptional throughout the flight.
I changed my seat from 16 C to 17 C to join fellow members of the site, sitting next to Rsman and StPiev, Ecutraveller sitting on the other side of the aisle. Padawan was seated in row 16, Indianocean choose , as usual, to fly business in 1A, Quentin5488 and Shadow B and St7515 in row 18 , MichelG and Bargi62 further down. It's not everyday that you know so many other passengers.
Bags with goodies were waiting on the seats , business class and premium eco passengers were privileged to receive a model of the airplane.
The seat is confortable,with a good pitch ( I am 185m) The touch screen is big with a good resolution.
Just in front is the new premium economy cabin with a bigger screen, larger armrests and a bigger pitch and recline.
Wifi is finally available on Air France but at a cost.
Some passengers are already trying to connect themselves.
The new safety card. Each aircraft type boast a different color : green for the 787, yellow for the A330 etc.
The flight pursers welcomes everybody and the safety instructions are show. The french astronaut and Air France pilot Thomas Pesquet delivers a specially recorded message. Then the famous wohouhou video with the Air France girls is aired.
Take off is very silent and we are soon over the clouds. The wider screens of the 787 make it easy for everybody to see outside.
As soon as the fasten seat-belts is off many passengers take a tour of the cabin and I head in business to see my friend indianocean. The design of the cabin is similar with the now familiar Best and Beyond product you can find on 777.
The crew is preparing the inflight service in the back galley.
I head back to my seat but the aisle is crowded by many avgeeks like us !
The service begins
A look at the menu.
The flight attendants hand out the trays with a smile . For drinks i choose the Pommery Champagne. Business passengers are offered Billecart Salmon.
I never get bored with the flight map.
Zoom on our flight today.
The IFE offers a wide choice of movies , series, music etc. in many languages.
From CDG to CDG !
Time flies and we start our descent.
We will arrive soon where we left almost 3 hours ago.
due to bad weather conditions we landed on automatic mode.
C'est en effet dans un épais brouillard que nous nous poserons sous les applaudissements de la cabine.
We receive a special certificate for the flight in the jetway and I have a last look on F-HRBA.
Another loop was organized on the same day and as from January 9 daily flights will leave to Cairo.
Thanks for reading this report and looking forward for your comments.
Sensational introduction to what will be a truly beautiful aircraft flying to the land of the Pharaos ! AF is also doing months of "test" flights on actual flights between Heathrow and Paris. Look forward to flying Air France one day :) Thanks for your lovely photos !
Thanks for your comment: in fact i will fly it again to London in February !
Thanks for posting this very special report Christophe! And so soon after the flight! Looks like it was a fun and festive atmosphere, especially with so many other Flight-Reporters on board. Seems like it was cloudy--not surprising for the North of France in the winter! It's too bad though, because the coast of Brittany would have offered some spectacular scenery on a clear day. The airshow map is pretty awesome though! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Kevin and by the way : Happy New year to both of you !
Thank you Christophe for sharing this special trip with the rest of the FR community.
It's indeed a privilege to partake in this "one of a kind" flight with fellow flight-reporters and experience the thrill of riding a new plane together. Kudos to AF for organizing this and sharing the excitement with aviation enthusiasts. Avgeeks are in every corner of the world and every time that we read a report of a new plane or special aviation event we connect to others that share this common passion. Some have never sat in the front of the plane, and there are even others who have yet to set foot inside an airplane but they are no less of an avgeek than any of us.
I think an essential part of being human is finding common grounds and connecting with others. When we do that and share our passions then we transcend ourselves and become part of a bigger community.
Thanks again for being inclusive and allowing us to share this memorable experience.
Thanks for your kind comment. I wish I could share more often with english readers but as many of us I am busy and it takes time to rewrite the FR ( more than translate) . I ll do my best in 2017 as it's interesting to have points of you from different part of the world and I love , like you, to share my passion.
Very cool experience and a great report. Merci beaucoup!