After millions of full moons, lunar eclipses, solar eclipses, and Artemis II lunar mission, I am finally back to this much beloved website. I'd like to start simple by sharing with you a recent trip that I took with my husband to get away for a week in the Basque country. The current area of Basque country stretches from northern tip of Spain all the way to southwest corner of France.
The main purpose is to explore the cities of Biarritz, Bayonne, Saint-Jean-du-Luz, and San Sebastian/Donostia (in Spain). I have never been to any of those cities and for my husband, it would be the first time for him to come back to Saint-Jean-du-Luz after 40+ years. When weighing all options, we decided to fly from our home base airport of Lyon Saint Exupery to Biarritz because Air France Hop had a pretty good deal. It was a very straightforward deal: a simple one-hour domestic flight that took us from Lyon straight to Biarritz. Comparing this with 8 to 10 hours of driving OR 7-12 hrs train journey thanks to SNCF bizzare network, honestly, flying was a no-brainer option. And let me tell you, my lower back thanked me profusely!
On y va!
It was a great day to fly. The sky was blue, the wind was calm, and the highway was smooth as silk. Since LYS is located so far out from the city and the Rhônexpress is nothing but express (and very expensive for what it is!), from our apartment in west side of Lyon, we decided to use Leo&Go which is the best option to travel to LYS if you are traveling with someone else or in a group of up to 4. You use your app to locate and reserve the nearest Leo&Go car, drive it to the airport, park it at a dedicated parking area, and pay a flat fee of around 22 euro. Easy breezy!
After about 30 mins driving, we arrived at LYS and we parked the car in a dedicated parking area right across of the Lyon Saint Exupery TGV station. This iconic building was designed by the maestro Santiago Calatrava and it was opened in July 1994. Unfortunately, despite being the very first TGV station linked to an airport, this train station sees limited use. The train has footbridge and pathway that connects the main terminal hall with LYS' Terminal 1 and 2.
Since Terminal 2 is closed for major refurbishment, most airlines use Terminal 1, including Air France and KLM. This platform connects the main hall of the station with the path to Terminal 1. I believe only Volotea, ASL Airline, Air Arabia, and Norwegian use Terminal 2.
Bienvenue au Terminal 1! The ground floor is where you have the check-in counters, self-check machines, toilets, restaurants, cafes, etc. The upper floor is where departing passengers go to perform security check and reach their departing gates. Also on the upper floor is check-in area for low-cost carriers like EasyJet, Vueling, etc.
This is the check-in counters for LH group. To the left is the check-in area for AF-KL group. Even though passengers check-in at Terminal 1, sometimes we also depart from the C gates which is located in Terminal 2 (which is currently being renovated).
Check-in was a breeze. We decided to use the self-check machine, printed our luggage tag, and then delivered our luggage at the counter. After, we went up the escalator and performed security check. It was quite busy and the queue was long because some x-ray machines were down so staff performed manual checks.
After security, just like in any other airports, one must go through Duty Free. It always makes me wonder if the concept of Duty Free is still relevant at all? After Duty Free, then we arrived at the main rotunda where gates B radiate out from this round-shaped building. My departing gate was D7 so that meant an extra 10 mins leisurely walk under the apron because D gates are located in a satellite terminal connected by an underground path.
Since we had about 1 hour and we were feeling a bit famished, we decided to buy food and eat while we waited for the flight to be called. No lounge today as neither of us has status with AF.
We still had a few minutes before boarding so my husband went to buy magazines while I decided to spot. The E170 in the middle with big HOP livery was the trusted aircraft that would fly us to Biarritz. Mainline AF flights use B and C gates whereas Air France HOP uses D gates. LCCs like Transavia, EasyJet, Volotea, Vueling, etc also use D gates.
These E170s would be flying to Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille, and Toulouse.
Boarding
I am not a big fan of the D gates because there's not enough seats. Instead, you are made to wait by leaning on this banister. I guess it's okay if you are only waiting for 10-20 minutes. However, I couldn't imagine waiting longer than that without sliding down lol. The gate agents were kind and enthusiastic when announcing that the flight was boarding. Though they were strict in policing boarding groups, they did it in friendly and cheerful manner.
She's 17.1 years old and first flew in 2009 with Régional, the forerunner of Air France HOP.
The Flight
Our E170 is equipped with all economy seats in a 2-2 configuration. I think there were 76 seats in total and this flight had 4 seats empty. The interior is rather basic. No IFE (not needed because most routes only last 1 to 1/2 hours anyway), no inflight magazine. Just a sick bag and safety instruction card.
I appreciate the air nozzle because it was rather stuffy in the cabin. I found the legroom to be acceptable and quite comfortable. No IFE box underneath the seat so I could put my backpack there. Standard pitch of 31 inches was also acceptable. For the sake of comparison, I am 178 cm tall and my husband is 183 cm tall.
This EasyJet A320ceo just arrived from Rome.
We pushed back smack bang on time and we made our way to runway 35L via taxiway T and A9. Because I was seated on the right side of the cabin, I was able to see the abandoned Air Transat's L1011 Tristar.
She has been parked (and ultimately abandoned by Air Transat) there since July 6, 2001. On that fateful day, she performed a charter flight between Lyon and Berlin. After an uneventful take off, the flight was met by a very severe thunderstorm that cracked the windshield and damaged the radar (due to golf ball-sized hail stones). The pilots decided to return to Lyon and the flight landed safely. But eventually Air Transat decided not to repair and repatriate this aircraft for economic reasons.
We took off towards the north and we flew straight for a while. The sky was blue, the wind was calm, and visibility was very good. I was able to see Mont Blanc and also the Bugey Nuclear Power Plant (i think it is, let me know if I am wrong)
Every time I look at this picture, I can't help but smiling and thinking about The Simpsons and Mr. Burns' power plant.
The flight made a 135 degree left turn towards south west. Had I sat on the left side, I would have been able to see my apartment in the west side of Lyon.
Onboard Service
As usual, on domestic and other short flights (less than 2 hours I believe), AF only offers sweet or savoury snacks. The sweet snack was a madeleine and the savoury snack (I chose this) was this cheesy crouton/crackers. For drinks, one can choose from the beverage cart of water, tea, coffee, soft drinks, and juices. I didn't see beer cans and any wine bottles. But I do know that alcohol is served on flights from Lyon to Paris which is about the same length as this flight.
The two flight attendants were effective. They were not particularly cheerful but they remained polite and professional. I guess this flight was their 3rd or 4th rotation of the day so they must have been quite exhausted by then.
And that's it. That's the service. No extra round of drinks but I did see that the FAs gave extra snacks if you asked them. Maybe after 10 mins, they came back to the cabin and collected all the rubbish and other wastes.
I have to say the lavatories were clean. There was one right behind the cockpit and there was another one all the way in the back galley. Very basic with no extra frills. Though it was showing its age but nevertheless remained clean the entire flight.
As we cruised along, I saw these two flights making circular motions (as you can see from the contrails) going up and down turning left and right. We were around the city of Pau and Tarbes. Later, I checked and found out that these were two A350s doing test flights for Airbus.
Arrival
We made a straight-in approach towards Biarritz's runway 27. It was a scenic approach because I could see the city of Bayonne and Anglet.
55 minutes after we left the gate at LYS, we touched down. The pilots did not use thrust reverser and just let the aircraft rolled towards the end and exited the runway via taxiway P.
Our flight was the only aircraft on the ground at that moment. I said merci et bonne journée to the flight attendant and deplaned by using one of two available jet bridges.
Biarritz terminal was so tiny that as soon as you pass that foyer, you will find yourself at the baggage claim area (via escalator). The terminal really has that easy chill calm feeling.
No more than 5 minutes waiting, our suitcases were delivered. Amazing!
We were on the curbside (car rental area) just 20 mins after we left the aircraft! It might sound like a small thing but it really gave a good feeling when you're starting your holiday. Plus, the temperature was a pleasant 22 degrees Celcius.
Conclusion
It's my first experience ever flying with AF Hop. To be honest, nothing is really that different compared to flying with mainline AF flights in a sense that I didn't see anything markedly different between AF and AF Hop. Hop did the job well with no pomp and no fuss. The price was right, the length of the flight was a no brainer vs train vs driving, and it was a comfortable flight. So I was happy as a clam!
I'll leave you with some pictures that I took!
Merci, nice report!