Review of Air France flight Lyon Paris in Business

Airline Air France
Flight AF7641
Class Business
Seat 1F
Aircraft Airbus A319
Flight time 01:15
Take-off 22 Mar 21, 10:10
Arrival at 22 Mar 21, 11:25
AF   #26 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 5929 reviews
ChrisB
By GOLD 576
Published on 16th July 2021

STILL GOING TO PARIS CDG BUT IN BUSINESS THIS TIME AROUND!


Hello dear flight readers!

 
As part of my job, I have been travelling to Bordeaux a lot of times in the past year, up to a weekly basis at some point. This was the first time I experienced a "regular" flying experience, where even some crew member might recognise and greet me!
Fortunately, my job let us choose the airline we want to fly with, and so as a Flying blue frequent flyer I did not choose the orange plane over Air France..  


This time around there wasn't any tickets left in economy for the time of the day I wanted - oh well never mind I'll fly business XD



Flying blue Miles earned with this flight: 847
Status earned: 6 XP 


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.. Of course, like many others, the app offers you the possibility to check in online and get your boarding pass.


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As an elite skyteam member, I was able to choose for free, from the time of booking my seat.

I noticed becoming gold member that more front seats are open for selection than was I was at the explorer level.


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at lyon - exupery airport


The AvGeek Bit
Lyon Satolas was inaugurated by president Valery Giscard D'Estaing in the 1970s as a replacement of Lyon Bron (that become too small and too close to the city centre to be extended).  Initially there were just the two small T1 and T2, then the very noticeable TGV train station was build next to it when the Paris-Lyon High speed rail service was to be extended to Marseille.

Following this an extension built at T2 for Air France regional partners (now Hop) : the S and U gates.
In the 2000s, the airport saw an extension of the T1 to increase low cost capactiy under a white sail then the current low cost dedicated building. Finally, after changing its name to the famous novelist and pilot Antoine De Saint Exupery, the T1 got extended with a massive circular building, opening the D gates.

Today the airport is a hub for Hop and a focus city for Air France, as well as Transavia and Easyjet, and is considered the 4th largest airport in France after CDG, Orly and Nice. 


I arrived at T2 with a taxi, as usual - as a sidenote I yet to have found a friendly and reliable taxi driver I could call on regular basis like in Bordeaux.


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The flights of the day..not too bad for a lock down period (sorry curfew+++).


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The very quiet checkin area…


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Once passed security you can have access to the international zone, again very quiet too.


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For those who aren't familiar with Lyon airport, this orange thing blocking the view from my plane arriving has usually nothing to do here.


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Here is my cute A319 of the day at gate B61 (or Q06 for the public). Flights to Paris have been 99% of the time operated from this gate.


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at the air france lounge… or not?


Or not… 

This is really irritating. I have been on so many flights from Lyon in one year and yet this lounge is still closed. From what I have collecting and consolidating, Air France doesn't want to re-open the lounge because there are all the other flights departing from the T2 gates when usually just Air France and friends do. So Air France does not want to grant access to people that have the gold status from another alliance.

So instead of enlarging a bit more privileges to a bit more people, they prefer not to cherish any passengers at all…
Love the logic. 

Here is the lounge over there. 


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onboard the a319


Aircraft: Airbus A319-111
Registration: F-GRHP
Engines: 2x CFM56
Age: 20 Years
Layout: J20 Y123
Observations: This unit is mostly used on the European market, and has been retrofited with WiFi Dome.


Boarding started soon after and respected by order of priorities.

Well you shouldn't be excited what I mean by priorities as there were more priority holder people than "normal" people on this flight… 


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Fuselage


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Ground crew still loading the plane..


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I was sitting directly in the front. 

The seats are nice, the middle seat is blocked for more comfort but ultimately this isn't a business seat unlike what you could find in Asia, Latin America or North America. 

One good thing with covid is that you don't need to blur faces as much as before, the surgical mask does the job!! 


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We got served an oshibori just before push back.


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The safety briefing was done manually - aka the old fashioned way by the - very professional crew.

We taxied until the 2/3 edge of the 35L runway (no point going all the way to the runway end with a small aircraft right?)
 


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100 knots..


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rotate…


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Since the first lock down, Air France stopped printing its magazine, and so it is digitally that you can discover it:


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The destionation of the month has beautiful pictures, as always. This is something recurrent with AF it should be noted.


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The domestic network has shrunk so much in the past years… Although Air France seems really committed to Lyon..


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Like i said the crew was really smiling, friendly and took some time to talk to us but that didn't prevent my really big disappointment looking at the extend of the so called "business" treatment…


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Where is…

The lounge?
The champagne during boarding
The champagne/wine during the meal
The meal?
The coffe?
The "do you want some more sir?"

Instead, Air France offers you the economy prestation (mind you the economy doesn't have chocolate) and a really heavy WTF feeling left for the unlucky business passenger to deal with. 


at paris - charles de gaulle airport


We landed on runway 27R, which doesn't happen too often so it was good to Taxi near good old T1. 


As usual we reached T2 F gates, and it seems that flights from Lyon often arrive at second F building (the eastern one)


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Good bye dear!


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See more

Verdict

Air France

5.9/10
Cabin6.5
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering0.5

Air France Lounge

0.0/10
Comfort0.0
Meal/catering0.0
Entertainment/wifi0.0
Services0.0

Lyon - LYS

7.9/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness9.0

Paris - CDG

7.0/10
Efficiency7.0
Access6.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Where is...

The lounge?
The champagne during boarding
The champagne/wine during the meal
The meal?
The coffe?
The "do you want some more sir?"

Instead, Air France offers you the economy prestation (mind you the economy doesn't have chocolate) and a really heavy WTF feeling left for the unlucky business passenger to deal with.

Morality
1. Air France considers a chocolate box is worth 200euro - the difference of fare between economy and business
2. If you want to feel like what it is to be in business nowadays, you just need a flight not too full so that you don't have a passenger next to you and a box of chocolate (that you can buy at Brioche doree) and- WELCOME IN BUSINESS CLASS sir!

In conclusion it mixed experience with Air France.

This A319 isn't that new but offers Best cabin>
The WiFi is real plus, or at least I should say I am getting used to it!

LYS : I still don't understand why this AF lounge is still closed.

Information on the route Lyon (LYS) Paris (CDG)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 78 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Lyon (LYS) → Paris (CDG).


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 9 minutes.

  More information

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