INTRODUCTION
Hello everyone !
I'm delighted to see you all back in Bordeaux after this weekend's work trip to Paris.
Ticket purchased in the beginning of January for departure in April on the Air France website sold for 354 € return, which is still quite expensive for a one-hour flight in Economy !
Routing
Enchainement de vols
- 1
- 2AF 7437 - Economique - Bordeaux → Paris CDG - Airbus A321-111
THE FLIGHT REPORT IN VIDEO
ARRIVAL AT BORDEAUX-MeRIGNAC TERMIAL HALL A
Arrival from the centre of Bordeaux at around 1 PM.
Head for the drop-off zone.
The control tower was designed by Philippe Starck.
This is Hall B :
There are very few people inside the terminal, in fact almost only Air France flights leave from here, the others only leave from terminal A, such as Ryanair , Volotea and Iberia etc …
Check-in at the AF automatic kiosk.
I don't have any luggage, so all I have to do is print my boarding pass and then go through the security.
A few AF customers wait to check in their luggage.
Here is the terminal A, exceptionally the terminal B is closed for maintenance (April 2023).
After the security checks, we were informed that there would be a two-hour delay following the late departure of the plane from Paris this morning, which caused a snowball effect throughout the day on the various flights that were due to depart in Paris.
SMS and notification received on the Air France app to inform us of the delay.
For the moment, only Ryanair and EasyJet are in the gates.
This panel will be ridiculous :(
After a delay of just under 2 hours, our plane finally touched down in Bordeaux!
Today it is a veteran of the Air France fleet that will be operating the Bordeaux - Paris route. F-GMZA is the oldest aircraft in the entire Air France fleet, having been in service for 30 years with the airline, operated previously by Air Inter.
As boarding had not yet started, I decided to go down to the lower level to take our plane with a slightly clearer view.
boarding
Boarding begin and priorities will be respected.
Beautiful view of the airport control tower.
Instant door :)
FOX - GOLF MIKE ZULU ALPHA
A few details about our aircraft:
Type : A321 - 111
Registration : F-GMZA (Fox - Golf Mike Zulu Alpha)
Date of joining the company : 10/06/1994
Age : 30 years old
After some personal research and according to Planespotters.net , Airfleets.fr and Flightradar our A321 is in storage, its last flight was on 1 November 2023 to Ljubljana in Slovenia.
Several other A321-111s are present in the Air France fleet, all of them almost 30 years old, previously operated by Air Inter then integrated into the Air France fleet : F-GMZC (29 years old) , F-GMZD (28 years old) , F-GMZE (28 years old).
ON BOARD
A warm welcome from the crew at the door.
Cabin configured as 3 - 3 (Metropole)
SEAT 14A
Not many people on this flight at the end of the afternoon, whole rows are empty including mine which will do me a world of good I'll be able to stretch out my legs : )
Recaro seats, pitch limited mainly to the feet and knees.
Headband with AF logo, but non-adjustable.
Two USB sockets are available, located at the bottom of the seat, and will work properly after take-off.
Safety - Card
Wi - Fi is available on board :)
The overhead light looks like it's from another era.
Right next to us is an Iberia CRJ900, which will be taking off for Madrid just after us, and in the back an Aer Lingus A320 waiting patiently for its passengers.
The bridge is removed.
pushback
During the pushback, safety demonstrations begin.
Engines start-up and the flaps are expanding.
At the back, two Belugas and several Norwegian 787s are undergoing maintenance at Sabena Technic.
TAKEOFF
Here we go, next stop : Paris Charles de Gaulle.
SERVICESome turbulence after takeoff, passing over the Garonne, which flows into the Atlantic.
SERVICE
Service begins as soon as our cruise starts, and we'll be served a hot drink and a small biscuit.
My selection is a glass of water and Coca-Cola.
CRUISE
Here's the cloud layer we encountered on take-off, which caused us some turbulence.
A great view of our CFM56 from my seat !
DESCENT
The descent began less than 25 minutes after our initial ascent.
Long turn over Meaux to line up with runway 26.
LANDING
The slats and flaps are deployed.
Hard landing after a long delay over the initial scheduled time.
Quick exit to the taxiway.
We cross 26 right.
We pass along the company headquarters.
A small A319 is on departure.
Next to us is a small A220, which will replace Air France's existing fleet of A318' and A319'.
The jet bridge will be quickly installed to allow priority disembarkation of connecting passengers.
Goodbye F-GMZA, thank you for this flight, which I think will be your last :)
" Les-Baux-de-Provence "
Heading to the exit of terminal 2F.
Allow 10-15 minutes for baggage reclaim.
The luggage carousels are empty.
A final farewell to our valiant F-GMZA, I hope one day to fly it again :)
Flightradar
Here is our flight according to Flightradar :
RIP F-GMZA, I assume it's being retired since it's now been parked for so long. It's nice AF added WiFi and USB to the Metropole fleet, but the seats are getting really old. I remember them being pretty hard and not very comfortable when they were new-ish over a decade ago, so I can imagine it hasn't gotten much better. I don't know how many of the Metropole fleet AF intend to keep operating, assuming more of these older ones will be retired, but for those they keep it's really time to start swapping out the seats. It's funny that Transavia are receiving brand new NEOs, but still none in the AF mainline fleet.
Thanks for sharing!