Review of Air France flight Paris → London in Economy

Going to london

Hello everyone and welcome to this flight to London!

I booked a bit last minute  this flight that will take me to London.  The flight that will take me to London and that I booked a bit last minute, hence the routing that could be a tad easier:

I probably have been on this flight a ton of times, but at least transiting through Orly was a change.

Flying blue Miles earned with this flight: 149
Status earned: 5 XP 

Today our plane was another A320, but of the european destination subfleet with 174 seats.

at paris - charles de gaulle airport

I left you from my previous leg at Orly, under works. I did struggle a bit to find signs of the bus. When I did so - and just to tell you how I am not used to Orly - I was expecting "cars Air France" - not Le bus direct that is the new branding of the car.

The bus service is actually ok, a bit pricy for what it is, still cheaper than a Taxi or Uber, but faster than the RATP, and it drops you at a few possibles stops at the terminal 2, including the E gates for me. 

Once checked in my luggage and passed security again, I went straight to the Hall K of the terminal 2 E where flights to London usually are. 

Although this is not the newest hall of E building, I like this red carpet, the tunnel shaped building (a bit more interesting than just square shaped) and this really cool feature: the comfu chairs overlooking hall L of the terminal 2 E.

Boarding happened on time, respecting priorities and so I took advantage of boarding amongst the first to take a picture from the other side of the cabin!

onboard the a320

Aircraft: Airbus A320-214
Registration: F-GKXU
Engines: 2x CFM56
Age: 11 Years
Layout: Y174
Observation: Belong to the GKX series, that was assigned to European destinations and sometimes domestic to CDG.

And look at this big neighbour! F-GSQA, AIr France first B777-300ER aircraft and also the first B777-300ER to have ever been built - yes Air France is the launch customer of the type.

The aircraft was retroffited with the new cabins, and like the vast majority of the European subleet, with WiFi too.

Air France made the decision to keep wifi free for basic services like messages on whatsapp, email etc.. 

The also cool feature is the USB plug available to each seat, together with the Air France play app. Still there is an IFE missing to get a 10/10 but we are almost getting there.

Take off happened smoothly from 8L.

and the usual magazine review of Air France… with some fun fact pages and a comprehensive few pages on the upcoming changes for Orly.

If there is one thing that has not changed much compares to the domestic market, it is the connection to both Hubs of CDG and Amsterdam.

and you can really tell Ben Smith focused on fleet rationalisation…
now out:
A380, A340, Joon all together, ATR72 and 42, E145s and the CRJs currently going.. Transavia seems to be happy thoug! 

Flying over the english channel…

and approaching London Heathrow from westbound…
Look at this beautiful view on Windsor palace. 

at london - heathrow airport

We arrived at London terminal 4, where the Skyteam members operate from.

Onto baggage reclaim..

And Arrivals