#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
It is time for the last section on a long trip, at last returning home. The flight is operated by KLM, from Paris Charles de Gaulle/Roissy Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. From there, it will be a further two hours by train to my home in the north.
This flight was originally booked as a KLM the night before, but due to a delayed incoming flight, I missed the connection and had to stay the night in CDG as a result. The experience rebooking and dealing with the delay is summarized in the Bonus section at the end.
Today I wake up closer to an airport than ever before. Despite this, getting from my bed to the terminal takes me around 25 minutes, as I walk to the CDGVAL shuttle stop (visible in the photo as the concrete cylinder with a sign showing "Terminals 1, 2, 3"), wait and take the shuttle to the main CDG train station, and from there walk to Terminal 2F. I've seen airports with better connections from the city center.
Terminal 2F has a rather small and ugly check-in area. The designer might have been going for a futuristic look, but I disagree with the design. In the photo, I have blurred the QR code to vote for CDG as "Best Airport," for your safety. My boarding pass was printed by the agent yesterday, so I head straight to security. It takes around 15 minutes from the start of the queue.
The area of the terminal from where I shall depart looks way better. A glass and metal ceiling is always welcome, even though this one in particular looks like spikes or thorns pointing to the travelers. There are a couple of businesses open, but most are still closed at this time. There are drinking water fountains in some locations.
Here is the bird that will finally take me back to the Netherlands, after an odyssey of delays and cancellations. The photo was taken at AMS, as it was too dark in CDG for a good picture.
Airline: Air France
Flight: AF1240
Model: Airbus A321
Registration: F-GTAM (France)
Age: 21 years
Boarding takes surprisingly long, and I'm already fearing yet another delay. There is a single gate agent checking boarding passes, and no electronic gates are open… And on top of it, due to weather conditions our departure will also be delayed! Hooray!
My seat is 36F, a window seat on the right, near the back of the plane. The seats are reclinable and comfortable enough for a short-haul flight. The headrest is adjustable and foldable.
Legroom is also pretty good, though I have to store my jacket under the seat in front, as the plane and the overhead lockers are full. I couldn't even find room for my cabin bag, but the cabin crew found a spot after all passengers were seated.
The pocket in front has a sickness bag, and there is a smaller pocket for the safety card.
The seat in front also holds the tray table, which is quite sturdy and large. Some light work could be performed without issue.
This is the only aircraft in the whole trip that features individual air vents! Naturally, it also has reading lights,
Class: Economy Light (L)
Includes: 1x Snack. 1x Cabin bag + 1x Small bag. Paid seat selection before check-in.
Seat: 36F (Window)
Price: ~575 € (Round trip, rebooked from KLM)
Ancillaries (this segment only): -
We depart at 8:18 from 27L. We had to wait at the gate for a while, as AMS seems to have bad weather, so they're restricting slots.
After plentiful meals in previous flights on this trip, the breakfast at Air France short haul feels lacking. It consists of a butter Palet Breton and a drink. I choose tea, which comes with a packet of sugar and a stirrer. The tea is prebrewed, which is a bad omen, but fortunately it's just tasteless this time. The biscuit is alright, but unremarkable.
The flight is uneventful until we descend and approach AMS. As we get closer to our destination, we hold on the air for a bit and then descend into windy Netherlands.
Route: Paris Charles de Gaulle/Roissy Airport (CDG) – (AMS) Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Great Circle distance: 399 km
Flight length: ~600 km (1x go-around)
Flight time: 1h 12m
Delay on arrival: +55 minutes (late)
The adverse weather makes the pilots go around on their first attempt to land. After looping around, a remarkably smooth landing was performed at 9:31. Today we landed on 27, the Buitenveldertbaan.
AMS feels more like a warehouse after the creative interiors of the other airports I just visited. Regardless, it's my home airport and there's no place like home.
It's quite a short walk from the C pier to the baggage belts, around 5 minutes. I don't have any checked bags, so I head straight to the train station that is underneath the terminal and take the train home.
Thank you for reading this report! This will probably be my last report in some time, as I don't plan to travel much the rest of the year. See you next time!
~~~~~~~
Photography: Own work
Maps: Google
Flight route: Flightradar24
CDG 2F still performs quite disappointingly, taking their sweet time boarding an A321 in more time than a B777 in ICN.
AMS on the other hand is quick and efficient as long as a massive employee crisis is not ongoing. The rail connections to the rest of the country and nearby states are always noteworthy.
Air France follows many European airlines in providing a more than satisfactory long haul service, and falling behind on short haul.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 189 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Paris (CDG) → Amsterdam (AMS).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Air France avec 7.5/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 32 minutes.
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1 Comments
Delays and cancellations aside, I would have been quite happy to try that interesting mix of airlines and planes!
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