Review of Air France flight Paris → Toulouse in Economy

This is a translation of a French Flight Report published earlier in the year, I wanted to translate this report because it was my first experience in an Air France lounge at Paris.
You can read the French version by clicking here.

Dear readers,

This is the long-awaited following and end of my trip to Toulouse, after a short stay in Amsterdam. I decided to travel from Amsterdam to Paris by bus because it was the best option for a last minute booking. Also I preferred to enjoy Air France lounge in Paris instead of taking a direct flight from Amsterdam absolutely expansive.

I chose to take a flight just after the lunch operated by Air France on an Airbus A321. As a reminder, the routing is the following:

Leaving Amsterdam & Ouibus Report

I leave the centre-town of Amsterdam at around 10 PM, I am going to Amsterdam Sloterdjik which is a bus terminal in Amsterdam. I decide to take the train to go to Amsterdam Sloterdjik. Then, I will take my bus to Paris Roissy-CDG airport.

I am waiting on the platform for the train going to Amsterdam Sloterdjik.

This is today Airbus… Actually, it is a Ouibus bus !

Finally, we leave Amsterdam with a delay of 30 minutes.

The bus driver was nice but he was alone, he was obliged to board every passengers one by one and the bus was complete this night. That's why we leaved Amsterdam delayed by 15 minutes.

It was complicated to sleep during the travel even if the seats could recline a lot. The seat was not comfortable as expected for a bus.

Then, I arrived at Paris-Centre Bercy Seine bus station delayed by 10 minutes. Actually the second bus was also delayed, I did not miss the connection to the airport.

Finally, the second bus going to Paris-Roissy CDG airport arrived from Kehl (a city close to Strasbourg) and carried me and some other passengers, we were about 3 or 4 passenger.

These seats are more comfortable, I would have liked to have it on the previous bus.

I arrive at the Paris Roissy-CDG airport bus station and I am going to take the CDGVal in order to join the 2F terminal.

I take the CDGVal, in the direction of the 2F terminal.

Paris Roissy-CDG airport : 2F Terminal

I arrive at the 2F terminal, it is the kingdom of Air France !

I use a check-in machine inside the 2F terminal. I am sorry, it is blurred !

The machine try to sell to me a "Siège Plus" option, which means "Plus Seat", for 9€ but I can't remind if the window is the same on the emergency exit. And I also prefer to save some money for the lounge.

I pick my boarding pass and my bag tag up from the machine. The boarding pass was printed on a normal paper, I do not appreciate that, I prefer to have a classic boarding pass printed on a stiff paper.

I arrive at the terminal drop off zone number 3.

I am redirected to the zone number 5 which is a self service drop off.

I drop off my checked luggage, the weight was at the limit of the luggage allowance. It weights 23.9 kg but there is not any problem.

Then I try to go through security checks but an airport agent come and she says: "Follow my colleague for a quicker way". I follow her colleague and he brings us to the Accès n°1 security controls !

We are mixed with the Sky Priority passengers.

Now, I am going to Air France 2F F2 lounge where I was supposed to meet Okapi, a French member of our community. But he had a last minute contretemps and he can not travel today.

I arrive at the Air France 2F F2 lounge at 8:30. I try to access to the lounge without my dear Okapi but it is not possible to access to the loung without him. And I can't access by paying the option because it is full and the business passengers get the priority. Cerberus invite me to come later.

I go back up to boarding floo near the F51 gate, I will spot some planes during my waiting.

After one hour of waiting, I try a second time but the access is refused twice by Cerberus, even if the lounge is not complete at this time. Cerberus said to me that I should come 2 hours before my departure and not earlier.

Air France lounge : 2F terminal (F2)

Finally, the third try is the good one, I success to enter inside the lounge. I paid 35€ for the access, to my mind it is a good price for this lounge. Nevertheless, I am disappointed with the difficulty of the access.

I check-in in the queue for the showers, I need to enter my name and my phone number. The tablet informs me that I am the next on the queue and I will receive a text message in the next 5 minutes.

I take a coffe and a little cake while awaiting for the shower's key.

I receive a text message inviting me to claim the key number 3 at the reception, and I am going to the shower.

I enter in the bathroom, it is a little bit old but it is practical. Taking a shower in an airport is amazing, it is comfortable especially after a night in a bus.

The shower

The towels kit supplied by the lounge.

The lounge also supply different products with the shower. There is a toothbrush, some toothpaste, a comb, a refreshing wet towel, a shaving kit and a bonnet.

I brush my tooth and I try to shave but it was not efficient at all.

Before starting my lunch. I take an aperitif and some salty snacks. The beverage choice is really limited, for the beers there are only Heineken beers.

I start my lunch with this first selection. I chose to try a lot of different things: a quinoa salad, few cooked shrimps, some lettuce, and some Parme ham. I also try gazpacho, and it was good as expected.

The tray and the tableware are branded by Air France.

Then, after staying for 2 months in Morocco, I can't end my lunch without cheese! So, I select 2 pieces and some bread without gluten. The cheeses were correct but not impressive at all. And the bread was not good.

As a dessert, I take a piece of chocolate cake with a raspberry coulis.

The meal was good, and the food offer in the lounge was good. I notice the experience of Air France in the preparation of the food, it was tasty and well-cooked. The only thing I miss is the fact that the choice of beverages was reduced.

Before leaving the lounge #jefaismescoursesausalon, and I take somethings away.

Boarding

I go to the gate F51 where our boarding should have started but the boarding is delayed by a few minutes. A delayed Joon flight going to Berlin is boarding on the same gate, we need to wait the end of this boarding.

Our boarding is also delayed because a passenger had a dizzy spell and we are waiting for the firefighters (in France we usually call the firefighters for a medical intervention and especially in an airport

An Air France agent invite the Economy class passengers to join the line on the left in order to board just after the Sky Priority passengers. Even if this flight is a 100% economy class flight.

The Joon flight going to Berlin is ready for taxiing.

Our boarding starts at around 12:20, a few minutes later than expected.

Then, it is my turn to board by the gangway, and I note that the firefighters parked there vehicle below at the gate.

Here, our Airbus A321 which will carry us to Toulouse.

View on the cockpit and an armoured van Brinks

Fuselage shot from the gangway

Then, I enter in the cabin, there is not any welcoming and boarding pass control.

There are some candies (branded by Hop!) and refreshing we towels in self-service at the gate.

Entrance in the cabin

Even if the flight is not complete and I am not the last passenger to board, there is not many space in the baggage trunks. Fortunately, a cabin crew helps me to find some space in another trunk.

I enjoy the view from my window, there is an Airbus A318 operated by Air France.

An Air France's Airbus A320 with the Sky Team livery, registered as F-HEPI which join us at the gate F51. It will carry some passengers to Prague.

While the boarding is ending.

The gangway is removed and we are pushed back while the cabin crew do the safety demonstrations.

We start our taxiing, and I notice some big drifts at the back. Actually, if the drifts are higher than the hall, it must be the Air France's Airbus A380 !

We are continuing our taxiing and we meet an Airbus A340 from Joon.

Yeah! There are 3 Airbus A380 out of the 10 operated by Air France.

We arrive in third position at the runway's entrance.

An Airbus A318, so called babybus, from Air France and registered as F-GUGL rush forward on the runway. It is going to Firenze in Italy.

After that, we overtake this Airbus A318 registered as F-GUGP, going to Geneva. We are followed by a Fokker 100 operated by Aero4M (I am not sure) and a Boeing 737 from Turkish Airline and another aircraft.

We are aligning on the runway and we are ready to take-off.

We run forward on the runway for taking-off.

I notice something far away.

I try to make an air to air with an aircraft which just took-off on another runway.

Climbing

I open the on-board magazine and I find this section about the temporary exhibition I saw at Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The service starts a few minutes after take-off, as usual I choose a tomato juice. A snack choice is also offered, but I am a little bit disappointed with this choice. Actually, you can choose a salty snack or a sweetie one and the selection is exactly the same as in the lounge.

A pilot makes an announcement: we are currently starting our descent to Toulouse-Blagnac airport but we need to slow down for the traffic regulation.

The spoilers are deployed.

Zénith of Toulouse

We are getting closer to Toulouse-Blagnac airport.

Another Airbus A321, also operated by Air France and registered as F-GMZD, is aligned on the runway 32R. We are going to land on the runway 32L, so called Concorde runway.

During the taxiing we meet some Beluga and Beluga XL (Airbus) and also an Airbus A400M.

Final corner

We arrive at the gate close to a colleague, it is an Airbus A319 coming from CDG too, but I did not chose this flight because I wanted to enjoy the lounge.

At the background, there is an Embraer 170 operated by Hop! (now Air France Hop!) coming from Lille.

After the complete stop of the aircraft and the gangway deployment, passengers get out but I am not in a hurry.

Toulouse-Blagnac airport

Fuselage shot

I leave the aircraft by the gangway and I meet this unpainted aircraft, it looks like strange. At the background, we can see an Embraer 190/5 from KLM and a Boieng 737-800 from Ryanair.

I look at the information system for the baggage delivery, and it is the same information I received on my smartphone from Air France. So, the baggages will be delivered at the belt number 3.

A few minutes later, some college students from Lourdes join us at the belt with an disrespectful attitude. They jostle everybody even if their luggages are not on the belt!!

Finally, I pick up my checked luggage from the belt and as usual my luggage is more damaged than when I drop it off at Paris. I do not understand how Air France success to damage so much the luggages. A lot of airways company do better on this point.

When I go back to my home, I meet this Airbus A380 over the Zénith.

This is the end of this Flight Report, I hope you enjoyed it. You can give me a like and leave a comment in the section below if you want.