Hi everyone,
Welcome to this short report covering the flight to Paris with Air France I had in October 2018. In the end of this report I will post some pictures and short description of the flight back as I'm not going to put it in separate report.
As every two years in October, also this year I took part in the SIAL Food Exhibition in Paris. As it was a business trip, the tickets were booked by my company. This time I was really looking forward to flying LOT as many of their flights to CDG are now operated by 737 MAX 8, but to my disappointment our boss booked us an AF ticket… However there were at least two positive things about flying Air France: better onboard service and the first for me A318 flight.
The whole trip plan looked like this:
23.10.2018 - WAW - CDG - AF 1247 - A318
24.10.2018 - CDG - WAW - AF 1246 - A318
FLIGHT AF 1247 WAW-CDG
It was one of these very early morning flights when you arrive at the airport before 05:00 a.m. having an impression of being still half asleep. I passed the security within 5 minutes being already checked -in online and having nothing but a small hand lugagge. It wasn't short before boarding where I finally woke up, so this time there are no airport or boarding pictures.
The morning AF flight to CDG in October 2018 was operated by A318 (now it's A319, some time ago it was A320 or even A321) - a good thing for me as I haven't flown yet the "baby bus". It was so dark outside and I was so sleepy, that my photo relation will start already onboard.
A look of the cabin from my seat
This A318 has still the old style AF seats but I like them as they are quite comfortable and not so cold and slippery as the leather ones. Legroom is fine for a 2 hours flight.
It's still dark when we take off
But soon the first rays of sun start to appear behind us as we continue to fly westwards
Le petit dejeuner arrives in the meantime with "pain au chocolat" and water for me as I detest instant coffee boiled with airplane water
It's getting brighter outside
with some nice colours of the sunrise
Some fog is visible as we approach France
Then the sky gets clear as the fog disappears
Bonjour, Paris!
The sun finally gets here as we taxi to our parking position
The cabin as we disembark
An the baby's nose
I must say I couldn't really feel the difference between the A318 and the A319, the inflight experience was for me more or less the same.
This was a very short and busy stay in Paris, the only place of interest I saw was Notre Dame while looking for some nice place fo the supper
FLIGHT AF1246 CDG - WAW
Getting to the CDG Terminal 2F from the Parc d'Expositions was fast and easy, so was the security check.
I was definitely to tired to take pictures and think of the next flight report, so I focused only on the seat pocket contents
and the service that on the evening flight consisted of a sandwich and beverage (the wine was quite good while the vegetarian sandwich with celery, zucchini and apple tasted somehow strange)
I had very good experience with cabin crew on both flights, however the crew on the flight back was even friendlier and more attentive.
Thanks for reading this short double report! All the best in the New Year!
Thanks for this FR and happy new year.
As you say, even the better onboard service on AF still isn't enough not to regret a flight on LO 737 max 8
But getting the A318 is a nice catch too, except in South America it's hard to get!
Happy New Year! Thanks for your comment! A318 is quite rare, that's true, yet it's nothing else than just a slightly shorter A319.
You don't have an impression of being hal'f asleep. You ARE half asleep!! :D
The baby bus! I haven't flown on one of those, either! They look so cute! I wonder if they are affected by turbulences more than other larger planes. But you say that the experience was similar to that of 319. Interesting.
Looks really "petit", but I guess it's a savior if you leave home in a hurry!
Even a short flight is welcome when it's paid by your company! I hope this was a successful exhibition for you!
Thanks for sharing! :)
Hi Nechus, right, I was half asleep! It was a little bit bumpy during descent and landing on the flight back but I wouldn't say that could be felt more because the fuselage is shorter, for me the worst turbulence is when you seat in the tail section of a longer jet. The exhibition was great and it was nice to be in Paris even for 1,5 days. Thanks for your comment!
Thank you for this report!
I think that the cabin is not the most suitable for these flights ... and the seats are not the most comfortable.
The photos have a very good quality!
Szczęśliwego nowego roku :-)
Pa!
Salut, Benoit! For me the cabin and the seats were ok but as you fly much more often on this route, you have more experience :) All the best in New Year!
Thanks for sharing an interesting short flight, and your first ever A318. A unique experience to get the babybus. But too bad you didn't get to try out the Max... although it seems so few have anything good to say about them.
Great shots en route as well!
Yeah, I heard MAX is nothing really special but it doesn't change the fact I would like to try it one day :) Thanks for stopping by!
That definitely is a very very early flight for a short one day trip to Paris. Thanks for sharing though!