#23 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
6118 reviews
I have been very lucky to go and travel in South America with my other half for 4 months from Argentina to Colombia and after the last and very good flight on one of the B787s, we were about to fly on a A320 family aircraft for a short flight from Paris to London.
Flying blue Miles earned with this flight: 173
Status earned: 15 XP
During our 4 months trip in Latin America, we went to a lot of places in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuator and Colombia.
Way out:
London - Paris CDG: Air France A320 report here
Paris CDG - Buenos Aires EZE: Air France Boeing 777-200 report here
Argentina
Iguazu - Buenos Aires AEP: Latam A320 report here
Buenos Aires AEP - Salta: Latam A320 report here
Salta - Cordoba: Aerolineas Argentinas B737-800 report here
Cordoba - Mendoza: Aerolineas Argentinas (Austral) E190 report here
Chile
Santiago - Antofagasta: Sky Airlines A320 report here
Peru
Lima - Iquitos: Viva Air A320 report here
Iquitos - Lima: Viva Air A320 report here
Nazca flights: Touristic bonus Report Here
Colombia
Medellin - San Andres: Latam A320 report here
San Andres - Cartagena: Latam A320 report here
Santa Marta - Bogota: Latam A320 report here
Way back
Bogota - Paris CDG: Air France B787-9 report here
Paris CDG - Londres Heathrow: Air France A318 report here
When you fly Business with Air France, you are entitled to 2 bags in the cabin, and two checkin bags of 32kgs each, adding my extra luggage allowance as I am a Skyteam elite member, we had an allowance 5 bags of 32kgs in the hull! We also flew Business with Air France to Buenos Aires at the start of our 4 months trip, and the return journey from/to London, believe it not, we 'only' paid £1659 (each).
We chose the seats on thisA319 when we booked our trip long time ago.
Air France app is quite comprehensive, you can easily navigate through options, travel tips, and of course your bookings and the service you will have on board.. So for us today on this B787, the list is quite good… Of course, like many others, the app offers you the possibility to check in online and get your boarding pass.
The other app Air France offers is the play app where you can download prior to your flight some news, magazines, podcasts etc.
I also downloaded the Skyteam app not to miss any perks of being holder of the elite status/ business class.. The app feels a bit old but you have the full flight schedules of all the skyteam airlines offline and also the details of the priority lanes and lounges at any airport.
We landed in CDG at 5pm and we landed on terminal 2E hall L and our next flight was departing from terminal 2E hall K. We had a previous experience of the lounge of the Hall K and it is not that good especially compares with the Hall L lounge.
So given we had a lay over of almost 3 hours we decided to follow the exit path to recheckin again to arrive at the lounge of the Hall L. You must be patient if also doing like us because you need to explain your "case" to many many (many!) security staff…
The Air france lounge of Hall L reopened in 2018 after a complete redesign, filled with light and large windows, the lounge is spread out over a way larger area than the lounge at Hall K. It has many seating areas in addition to two large co-working tables with individual sockets to work quietly.
We were told the lounge was designed to be a modern and stylish décor à la Française. It is all in proportions between decoration, elegance, passenger comort and innovative features - some of the lounges we've been into had this "too much" touch when it comes to decoration but this lounge is very good example of what a lounge should be. And especially with that beautiful view on the Terminal 2 airport.
Once passed the welcome desk, you will find in the middle of the loung the bar called Le Balcon, with a golden curvy and shiny ceiling which features a bar in the centre and a barman that offers cocktail (for free of course) from his menu from the Lancaster hotel in Paris or your imagination.
Once the order passed, you can relax on the red velvet benches..
On the other side of the lounge, you will find a buffet called the Gourmet table that has hot and cold dishes, pasta, salad, cheese, and french pastries (I couldn't stop eating them!). Of course there was a selection of French red and white wine and champagne. There was also the possibility to order a hot disch prepared by the chef behind the counter.
There is a small replica of this buffet on the other side of the cocktail bar with similar food offers.
The other big plus of this lounge is the huge wellness area, comprising a relaxation room with deemed light resting suites, a Clarins spa with two treatment rooms for free (but you need to book as soon as you arrive), large luxury showers, two private saunas (that we booked) and a detox bar. When you arrive on that part of the lounge you have this luminous light sculpture, the clarins facial on the left, the resting are behind and and the spa on the right.
There is also another small lounge area passed the spa called ‘Le Petit Salon’ (a quiet area where smartphones are silent) and ‘Le Club' which is an even higher form of privileged clients.
There is also a video game area, the usual newspaper bit etc
An hour before the boarding time, we left the Hall L lounge to go to the Hall K terminal via the CDG vial self transfert train.
There we passed the luxurious like duty free area and went for a bit to the Hall K lounge - which is - by far - worse than the lounge we first went at.
Just a few sofas and resting area, the food offer at the buffet is nice but minimal compares to the other lounge.
We saw on the FIDs that our flight to London was ready and so we went to the gate K32 where boarding happened in priority order.
Our plane was this A319.
Aircraft: Airbus A319-111
Registration: F-GRXK
Engines: 2x CFM56
Age: 13 Years
Layout: C20 Y123
Observation: The plane is one of the last A319s received by Air France (the first one is 22 years old).
The AvGEEK bit
Air France usually splits its A320 family units into two groups: for mainland france destinations or European/North African markets. The airline has 33 A319s, 25 out of them are assigned to the European markets, just 8 for mainland france. The french flag carrier has started to retrofit the European units with Smart and Beyound cabins and seats, and lately with Wifi too.
The crew assigned to the business cabin today felt equally professional as the previous flight but way friendlier.
A refreshing towel and a small bottle of water were handed out to us before take off - no champagne here. I am not sure i can really complain for such a short flight but it just didn't feel as business-y as the previous flight on the B787.
Soon after cabin was dimed with sunset lighting.
Captain made the usual pre-flight annouce and told us the flight will last no longer than 50min and that unfortunately on the other side of the chanel the weather was 10degrees colder -ugh!
We started push back soon after.
Crew performed safety briefing in the old fashion way but with smile. As advised by the crew, here is the safety card!
We started taxiing next to Terminals 2E hall K, Hall L Hall M and terminal 2G before reaching the edge of runway 26R.
We had to wait for a bit as we were 5th on the line to take off, after an Iberia express A320, Cityjet Avro rj, Flybe Embraer 190 and an Air France A318.
We finally took off about 20 min later than scheduled.
Although the aircraft is old, the cabin was fully refurbished with smart and beyound seats, reclining and adjustable head rests, and small blue pillow with the typical accent of AF patterned on it.
The seats were equipped with USB plugs that unfortunately werent working due to techical failure that day.
Although a good chunk of the A320 famli fleet of Air France are now equipped with wifi, this A319 wasn't just yet but I guess it wasn't bothersome for such a short flight.
Just like the A320 family fleet, this aircraft wasn't equipped with IFE nor screens.
The magasines offered were Madame and the very thick Air France magasine.
The magasine offers a section of travel articles, and coporate news.
On the fleet section there has been a few changes: Joon completely disapeared, so almost Hop the regional fleet that is now having the usual Air France livery with a small Hop red title below it.
The crew started very shortly after take off to serve us food, even before 10,000 feet and the seat belt signal being switched off.
I chose Champagne and we were given our tray, very similar to a long haul flight except there wasnt any table cloth. The tray had foie gras, bread, brie cheese, artichoke and cherry cake.
The flight was that short that the descent happened whilst we were eating.
Indeed, the cruise altitude of this flight was just 24,000 feet.
As usual we heathrow, we were put on hold for 10 min before making a final on the runway 27R.
The landing was very very smooth, so congrats to the captain!
As usual, we arrived at Terminal 4, home of Skyteam members (except Delta that is hostd T3 with Virgin Atlantic), some former members like china southern and gulf airlines. Our arrival gate was, as well, very usually gate 15.
From stepping out of the plane, going through jetway, corridors and immagration to the baggage reclaim belt it took us 7 min…
About the last time before for me that fast the brexit mess!
And a few minutes later we were in a cab - where - very sadly - our 4 months trip ended.
In conclusion it was a fantastic experience with Air France.
This A319 isn't old yet but the cabin was recently changed. The seats are exactly the same you can find in economy excpet that the middle seat has been blocked.
The soft product was very good for such a short flight, and the crew made it even more of a pleasant experience.
Landing at terminal 4 and leaving the terminal building is usually faster than the other terminals at heathrow however the building needs refurbishing.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 134 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Paris (CDG) → London (LHR).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Air France avec 7.5/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 16 minutes.
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7 Comments
The updated lounge in T2E Hall L looks really nice! Too bad it took AF so long to get it done...but that seems to be pretty typical AF...slow refurbs. I'm very surprised that you were able to access the L lounge leaving from K. The security agents are usually pretty strict about not allowing pax through to the wrong concourse.
I also like the look of the newer shorthaul cabins and like that they have USB charging. The meal looks really good for just a 1h flight!
Thanks for sharing!
The updated lounge in T2E Hall L looks really nice! Too bad it took AF so long to get it done...but that seems to be pretty typical AF...slow refurbs. I'm very surprised that you were able to access the L lounge leaving from K. The security agents are usually pretty strict about not allowing pax through to the wrong concourse.
I also like the look of the newer shorthaul cabins and like that they have USB charging. I do find your rating of IFE a bit low considering there's streaming entertainment on personal devices and USB ports.
The meal looks really good for just a 1h flight!
Thanks for sharing!
The updated lounge in T2E Hall L looks really nice! Too bad it took AF so long to get it done...but that seems to be pretty typical AF...slow refurbs. I'm very surprised that you were able to access the L lounge leaving from K. The security agents are usually pretty strict about not allowing pax through to the wrong concourse.
I also like the look of the newer shorthaul cabins and like that they have USB charging. Speaking of, I find your rating for IFE to be a bit harsh considering the new cabins have USB ports and there streaming IFE for personal devices, in addition to the downloadable reading materials you mentioned.
The meal looks really good for just a 1h flight!
Thanks for sharing!
The updated lounge in T2E Hall L looks really nice! Too bad it took AF so long to get it done...but that seems to be pretty typical AF...slow refurbs. I'm very surprised that you were able to access the L lounge leaving from K. The security agents are usually pretty strict about not allowing pax through to the wrong concourse.
I also like the look of the newer shorthaul cabins and like that they have USB charging. Speaking of, I find your rating for IFE to be a bit harsh considering the new cabins have USB ports for charging personal devices, in addition to the downloadable reading materials you mentioned. On short-haul no IFE screens is pretty standard for most airlines so just in-flight magazines is pretty much average and would be 5/10. That's how most rate short haul IFE.
The meal looks really good for just a 1h flight!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks again :)
The in flight meal looks very good and you with foie gras and brie you know you are on Air France !
Yep foie gras, cheese and the desserts yum!
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