Welcome to my Air France flight report between Paris and Bangalore!
After arriving from Washington around 5:45am, I had a long 4h55min to kill before my connection to India.
To pass most of the time, I slept on a very comfortable bed/ chair at the end of Hall K. Luckily I took a blanket from my previous flight because it was freezing in the terminal. Most shops were closed and the dining options are below average. Bathrooms were quite disgusting too.
This was my view while napping (Saudia 777 and A330):
AF A380
My alarm woke me up right in time for boarding
Once seated and boarding was complete, the Captain announced a 1 hour ground delay due to baggage issues.
The IFE was average size, and it had an average selection as well.
Pushback! Finally!
Quick AF spotting.
Good pitch at the bulkhead
Right after take off, the captain announced that ATC changed our routing which would add an extra two hours to the flight time.
Menus were distributed very quickly after takeoff. Its a long one with so many choices and languages.
Aperitif:
I opted for the lemon chicken dish, which was excellent. Not too fatty, dry, or bland!
All together a great meal! The crew kept genuine smiles and generosity while serving the cabin.
After the meal, I managed to sleep for a good five hours. I woke up over Saudi Arabia.
Soon after, Ice cream was distributed
About an hour later, more ice cream was served
The final meal was a combination of fruit, nuts, water, and a warm Indian sandwich
A delayed arrival into Bangalore
Indigo A320 and Goair.in A320(above)
A very blurry Lufthansa 747-8i and Dragonair A330
Premium Economy Cabin
J cabin
Quick look at bangalore boarding gates. Overall a beautiful new airport. Immigration took about 15 minutes. Not too bad.
Thanks for this FR.
What a huge detour it was to fly throug the Gulf to reach India.
Did the pilot explain why?
Maybe this is linked to the fact that airlines avoid both ukrainian and iraki airspace.
Nice service for a flight of this duration, AF really seem to adapt its menu to the indian market.
Thanks for this flight report!
Yes you are right KL651, it's very strange! First, I thought that they had changed their SID, but then I read 2 hours extra!!!!!!!
But how do they fly the plane? Do they have to change all the waypoints, airways or will the ATC keep giving them their HDG; CRS if it will be a NDB/VOR navigation! No SELCAL for this time!
Thanks for sharing your experience.
It seems that AF offers a decent product in Y and is nice to see that the catering is adjusted to the destination. Most airlines that fly to India include a vegetarian hindu meal as one of the regular options on those routes. That is something that I have noticed on previous SQ Y menus. I recall reading a report that on a flight to India with an airline that did not provide a local meal almost half the plane ended up with a special meal.
Nice observation from KL651. I know that the FAA has recently banned all U.S. carriers from flying over Syrian airspace.
Thank you very much for sharing your experience with AF!
The meal seems very good.
I hope the return flight was as pleasant as this one :-).