After a European report on LH, time to show you the product on the competitor Air France.
I am heading to Bordeaux and I have the choice to start in Stuttgart (much more convenient) and use Air France, KLM, Lufthansa or Vueling (not every day). I think also that Swiss is back to Bordeaux.
This ticket was bought using 10k Skymiles (Delta) for STR-CDG-BOD, 20k with the return leg.
We are beginning of August and the Sbahn central part is closed for 6 weeks school holidays repairs. Trains now start at the main station and use the line going to Singen and Zurich to get back to the Sbahn track heading to the airport. That takes 10 more minutes and makes the Ubahn faster for the same journey. Though the trains are mostly empty.
The Ubahn stop is 3min walk along the Mövenpick hotel to the terminal.
Terminal which is not too croudy. We are a Wednesday 6 days after start of school summer break.
The T2 is good almost empty as well. All terminals 1-4 are linked air side so you can pass security where you want / where there is the shortest queue.
This month magazine reports the most popular destinations out of the airport. This used to be Berlin and Hamburg but the Bahn has taken over the traffic. easyJet closed their route STR-BER.
Nice views from the T3 today.
My aircraft is also approaching.
This is when I am warned that my connection will be delayed. We are in the middle of a difficult summer in Europe and the last flights are usually delayed to wait for connecting passengers.
I haven't said a word on a lounge here at the airport. Well they are all closed because the fire protection system is under renewal. That will last until next summer. Air France and KLM are the only 2 airlines that give a voucher of 15€ for Business and Status (ElitePlus) members. LH group and BA don't. Don't know for TK though.
Boarding started on time.
Bus boarding. I like it in summer to see the operations on the apron.
My seat on board this Embraer 190. Space is correct.
My neighbor is also a Platinum member. I have the impression that everyone who flew a bit in 2022 became Plat with Flying Blue…
Push back in front of these Eurowings A32x. They are clearly market leader here with Condor, TUIFly or the turkish airlines far behind.
The STR tower
Take off to the East. The mountains in the back are the Alb. A nice plateau at 600-800m to do cross country skiing in winter.
U-turn and STR from the South East. 1 unique runway but a length close to 4km which makes it one of the airport to use with widebodies when FRA is closed.
The service is made of a drink service (beer and wine available) with a small tasty sandwich. Choice between cheese or vegan.
Air base of St Dizier
Lac du Der south of St Dizier
La MArne
And the infamous terminal G of CDG - reserved to HOP and Luxair.
2E hall K
We park at the 2G which has also a few A220 operated by Air France for HOP. That is strange !!!
A bus takes us in 10min to the terminal 2F. That remains fast.
Hi AB, thank you for sharing this series on AF!
STR-CDG is shorter than CDG-BOD, yet the “international” segment gets the sandwich as part of service irregardless of Hop vs Mainline? AF does have elevated service and better amenities (charging), but MUC transfers are likely much more reliable than CDG. Thanks again!
Hello and thank you for sharing your flight experience ! AF is offering a quite good service between Stuttgart and Paris with a Voucher, a large panel of drinks, a snack on board despite the fact that quantity is rather small but I think it's good enough for a so short-haul. You had luck at STR because most of german airports were overcrowded. This situation implied a really bad passenger experience. I'm quite surprised by the fact that A220 are also operated by AF Hop ! The terminal 2G has a better visual architecture inside than outside ! See you soon !