Avis du vol entre Paris et Amsterdam en classe Economique avec Air France

AFR

AF - Air France

Vol effectué le 05 octobre 2024
AF1240
07:10 01h 25m 08:35
Appareil Airbus A320
Classe Economique
Siege 22A
marathon
204 · 69 · 0 · 7

Introduction


This report is on the first segment of a trip whose routing was modified, due to lack of a “compelling reason” to keep it as it was originally.
This is its initial version, which had been booked many months in advance:


Enchainement de vols

  • 1
    AF1240 - Economy - Paris → Amsterdam - Airbus A319
  • 2
    A90952 - Economy - Amsterdam → Tbilisi – Boeing 737-700
  • 3
    3F584 - Economy - Tbilisi → Yerevan Airbus A320
  • 4
    3F583 - Economy - Yerevan → Tbilisi Airbus A320
  • 5
    J28224 - Economy - Tbilisi → Baku Airbus A320
  • 6
    J273- Economic - Baku → Paris Airbus A321

But almost one month before departure day, the French Foreign Office published this ominous warning. "Risks of arrest, arbitrary arrest and unfair trial in Azerbaidjan"

The relationships between France and Azerbaijan were seriously deteriorating, with the former accusing the latter of fanning the devastating riots in New Caledonia, in reprisal to France’s support of Armenia with regards to Upper Karabakh.


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This information did not take long to reach the participants to this trip, and it took only a couple Whatsapp messages to decide to defer the visit of the major sights of Azerbaijan to more peaceful times. Two plans B were drawn up, and this is the one which was chosen, with an unexpected aircraft change on the round trip between TBS and EVN (teaser!):


Enchainement de vols

  • 1
    AF1240 - Economy - Paris → Amsterdam - Airbus A319
  • 2
  • 3
    3F584 - Economy - Tbilisi → Yerevan - Airbus A320
  • 4
    3F583 - Economy - Yerevan → Tbilisi - Airbus A320
  • 5
    A3897 - Economy - Tbilisi → Athens Airbus A320
  • 6
    A3614 - Economy - Athens → Paris Airbus A321

We did not regret the loss of our tickets on J2, a.k.a Azerbaijan Airlines, because a few days later, a Frenchman who had had the stupid idea of spray painting a car of the metro in Baku metro, and the even more stupid idea of bragging about it on social networks, was sentenced to three years in prison, while his two companions who had done the same, but held different passports, got away with it with a mere fine. I had had plenty of time to choose our seats for the first flight, purchased a long time in advance from KLM: this was the cabin layout then:


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I had chosen 15A and 15B, displayed as being for free for my wife (FB Explorer), and reduced from 12 to 0€ for me (FB - Silver)…


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… but as nothing was going to be as planned, I received this message from KLM a little while before departure:


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The flight apparently had sold better than expected, and we were moved back 7 rows to 22A + 22B: the seating comfort was not going to change, but the reliability of the connection was degrading, because I remembered a missed connection at AMS, arriving on the same flight, and seated approximately at the same row.


CDG before dawn


Arrival at CDG-2F with Bolt at a read-eye time; the ride took a few minutes longer than it used to because the speed limit on Paris’ ring road had been lowered from 70 kph to 50 kph a few days before..


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When you no longer have a Skyteam Elite+ status, the check-in of your baggage is now DYI, at these automatic terminals which, at that time in any case, are in sufficient number.


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They turned out to not quite be Do It Yourself, because the code sharing between KLM and Georgian Airways was not quite transparent and I receive this voucher for a call to a friend.


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The friend, i.e. this staf at the end of the row of machines, was available and had superpowers that I didn’t have, because quickly and in a friendly manner…


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… he issued our BPs and a baggage tag that he attached to our suitcase


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We returned to the DIY level at this row of automated baggage drop-offs, also in sufficient number


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Scan of the BP, scan of the tag baggage


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… and the Marathon suitcase, whose weight was compatible with the 12 kg limit in force at AF/KL for cabin baggage, but not its size, vanished on the conveyor belt to the innards of the airport.


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The whole procedure took barely more than ten minutes, which I found very satisfactory


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Arrival at the security check


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Apart from the fact that my laptop was randomly selected for an explosives detection test, nothing special happened at this stage, completed in 15 minutes flat.


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Walk to Pier #2


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And arrival at gate F50, where the seats are well occupied, but we managed to find two adjoining seats at the next gate. Altogether, it had taken us 34 minutes to reach the gate from our drop-off by in front of the terminal


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Both escalators down to the lower level were stopped. The toilets there were clean, but had a limited capacity with only three cabins for men at this end of the pier.


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A glance at an Air France A220-300 at her gate


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Being still FB-Silver, I could board in zone 3 (and my wife with me)


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The plane of day


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Going down the gangway


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Door shot


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Fuselage shot


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Arrival at our seat, with a misaligned window, but the view remained decent


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The width between armrests is AF standard in A32x, i.e. decent


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On the other hand, at 22 cm, the distance between the edge of my an seat and the bakrest of the seat in front of me was at the lower limit of standards for Economy, and significantly less than what I measured on easyJet, a LCC


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Worse, the seat back can recline 6°, which is admittedly not much, but might reduce a cramped space even more.


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The plane is equipped with USB ports at the end of the armrests


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They are powered during boarding


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The safety sheet, both sides


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"Welcome to this Air France A321…": the captain seemed to have as much difficulty identifying planes as I do. She told us of a slight delay caused by 7 no-shows whose luggage were being unloaded (and indeed, the were noises suggesting that containers were being moved in the hold).

Pushback at 7:22, or STD + 12’.


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OK for departure!


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Royal Air Maroc 737-800 at dawn…


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… parked next to CN-MMH, a Moroccan governmental Gulfstream G650


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The tricolor lighting of Terminal 1


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The ideogram 爱 in the livery of this Air China aircraft means “to love / love”, which leaves open several possible interpretations on who loves who (or what)


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No surprise, takeoff was going to be on the runways north of the terminal, runway 9R…


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… after this AF A321


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Takeoff


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Fog patches lingered here and there in the landscape


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Turn to the north, off Dammartin in Goëlle


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A very poor view of CDG after heading to AMS


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Sunrise on the right-hand side seats


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A light cloud cover hides the ground


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The on-board service is limited to a small pancake and a drink – coffee for me.


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Sunrise on the wing during a turn


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The ground appeared once we reached the Dutch airspace: Vlissingen harbor


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The Delta Works


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The outer harbor of Rotterdam


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Offshore wind farm


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The misty countryside


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Bad news: we went far north before turning towards land, which was the telltale of landing on the infamous Polderbaan


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Morning fog


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This was a confirmed Polderbaan landing, with the Nordzeekanaal now


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The Polderbaan is runway 18R (for landing) / 36L (for takeoff), the furthest away from the terminal, which typically requires 17 long minutes of taxiing either way


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It has its own dedicated control tower


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PH-BXO, a rare KLM 737-900


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Passing beyond the end of runway 09


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The KLM Embraer parking lot


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… with a few intruders of the same type


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… such as G-CLYU, an Eastern Airways E190


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PH-HXG, a Transavia 737-800


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Lufthansa A320ceo


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A line-up of incoming KLM aircraft


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Reaching our gate next to PH-BGH, a KLM 737-700


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14 minutes had elapsed since landing on the Polderbaan, a few minutes less than usual, but to this taxiing time was added the additional flight time to line up due south on AMS.
We were not quite alone in the airport: the connection was going to be a tight one!


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Thanks for reading me, to be continued!

Tout afficher

Notes des produits

Compagnie aérienne

Air France 8,0

  • Cabine7,0 / 10
  • Equipage8,0 / 10
  • Divertissements10,0 / 10
  • Restauration7,0 / 10
Aéroport de départ

Paris - CDG8,3

  • Fluidité8,0 / 10
  • Accès7,0 / 10
  • Services8,0 / 10
  • Propreté10,0 / 10
Aéroport d'arrivée

Amsterdam - AMS7,6

  • Fluidité3,5 / 10
  • Accès9,0 / 10
  • Services8,0 / 10
  • Propreté10,0 / 10

Conclusion

Minimal seat pitch, which could have been worse if the passenger in front of me had reclined his seat back.
The crew did their job, which was not overwhelming, serving a standard service whose only point of interest was hot coffee (because anyone can slip a cookie into his hand luggage).
Taking into account the landscape at dawn, the free press offer to be downloaded before departure and the presence of USB ports, I don't see what more could you ask for in terms of entertainment on a flight of this duration.

The fluidity was decent at CDG, despite the failure of the check-in at the automatic machines.
Accessibility to CDG by public transport is poor, especially at this time, but getting there by car was fast before the morning rush hour.

Spoiler: this flight arrived at the morning rush hour at AMS, where the throughput at the Schengen Area passport controls is catastrophic.
This was off topic due to connections, but AMS's accessibility by public transport is excellent, and not just to/from Amsterdam.

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