Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
This FR, continuing the series of my trip from Spain to Ecuador in February-March 2020 in the eve of the pandemic, is devoted to one of the most interesting and very short-lived intercontinental flights of Air France: Paris (CDG) - Quito (UIO).
Ecuador is a very small market for transatlantic flights from EU, and only 3 airlines managed to operate this market sustainably:
Iberia with nonstop flights MAD-UIO-MAD (A346 before the pandemic, A359 after the pandemic) and MAD-GYE-MAD (A332).
Air Europa with nonstop flights MAD-UIO-MAD (B789/B788) and MAD-GYE-MAD (B789/B788); previously UX operated a triangle flight MAD-UIO-GYE-MAD with B789/B788.
KLM with triangle flights AMS-UIO-GYE-AMS (B77E or B789).
From 14 May 2019 AF entered this market with its subsidiary JOON, starting CDG-UIO-CDG flights on A343s 3 times/week. But then in late June 2019 JOON was discontinued and then AF switched the aircraft type to the mainline B789s (the 4 remaining A343s in the JOON livery were switched to some African destinations until being phased out during the pandemic).
When the pandemic hit the world, AF suspended its service to Quito and never resumed it since. AFKL group decided that KL AMS-UIO-GYE-AMS service is enough for the post-pandemic reality.
My flight CDG-UIO was departing from 2E/M pier of the CDG's multiterminal T2. In the previous FR MAD-CDG I covered 2E/L and 2E/M piers (which are definitely the best part of CDG) and the variety of the pre-pandemic planespotting in CDG as well. So, here we start directly with the flight.
The Aircraft
My flight was operated by 2018-built B789 (F-HRBG). AF has only 10 Dreamliners in the fleet, and with A359s being the backbone of the AF fleet, these Dreamliners have no certain future. Probably they'll be transferred to KL, as their cabins are quite similar to the ones of KL B789s. AF B789s have 3-class C30_W21_Y225 layout.
Boarding
Boarding was from M44 gate.
The world was already worried about the spreading of Covid, but the pre-pandemic life was still continuing as before.
The portside GEnX engine view from the jetbridge.
The Premium Economy Cabin
The premium economy cabin, located after 2L/R doors, consists of 21 Safran Airgo FX fixed-shell seats in 2-3-2 layout in 3 rows. The advantage of Dreamliners in premium economy cabins is that the layout is always 2-3-2, whereas in wider A350s it's mostly 2-4-2 (with some rare cases of 2-3-2). Fixed-shell seats are not the best variant, and some people dislike them.
The Economy Cabin
The economy class consists of 228 seats in 3-3-3 layout, distributed between 2 cabins: the front one (being slighly smaller than the rear one) between premium economy and 3L/R doors and the rear one between 3L/R and 4L/R doors.
The Economy Seat
My seat was 31K in the front part of the rear economy cabin. The seat model is Safran Z300 - one of the best still-produced economy seat models for long-haul flying. Though, it looks much "cheaper" than, for example, Z300s in ex-LATAM A359s. Nevertheless, the seat is very comfortable with very good ergonomics. The seat width is 17.3", which is standard for 3-3-3 Dreamliners. The seat has "leather" adjustable headrest, fabric upholstery, modern IFE with big crispy screen and USB port, single-piece tray table with cup holder, lower seat pocket with multiple compartments, and underseat universal power port. Waiting on the seat were pillow, blanket and headphones. When boarding was complete, I realized that the cabin load was so low that virtually everyone could have its own seat triplet, making the long flight super comfortable! 3-3-3 Dreamliners start to shine for economy passengers only when the cabin is far from full, and, thankfully, that was the case. It's hard to tell why the load was so low - maybe because the passenger flow still didn't build up back then, maybe because people were worried about the spreading of the then-unknown Covid and already started to reduce travelling (but at the same time my return flight GYE-AMS on KL had substantially more load).
The seatpocket content: safety card, inflight magazine and waste bag. There was also printed menu, which will be shown further.
The Flight
The cabin lighting is turned into departure mode.
The safety video was played. AF deserves a merit, because this video emphasizes the spirit of France.
As we're starting to taxi, fascinating pre-pandemic planespotting in CDG, started in 2E/L and 2E/M piers, continues.
The already seen from 2E/M AF A380 (F-HPJE), AF B77W (F-GZNI) and ME A332 (OD-MEE).
AF A359 (F-HTYB) - the 2nd A359 in the AF fleet.
AF B77W (F-GSQS) in high-density "leisure" C14_W28_Y430 layout (for Caribbean and Indian Ocean destinations), bound for HAV. Now, in 2026, when Cuba is suffering one of the worst crises in its history, its hard to imagine that AF served this almost-failed Caribbean state in the past…
AF A343 (F-GLZO) in the livery of discontinued JOON. Symbolically, this aircraft was phased out the next day - 24.02.2020, even before the pandemic, so I witnessed the preparations to its penultimate flight (probably for CKY and NKC, if I remember correctly). F-GLZO was scrapped in December 2020. The rest 3 remaining AF A343s were phased out in March 2020 shortly after the pandemic was declared.
Another AF A380 (F-HPJC), taxiing to 2E/M pier.
VN A359, departing from 2E/L to HAN or SGN. VN A359s has very good economy cabins with Safran Z300 seats, and the level of service exceeds any EU airline, including AF.
E170 (F-HBXH) of AF Hop and 2E/M pier with AF A380 (F-HPJE) and AF B777s.
A320 (EI-DTI) of old AZ, which was discontinued in 2021 and replaced by ITA Airways. This aircraft joined ITA fleet, but in 2024 was phased out and then in 2025 joined Parata Air (in the Republic of Korea).
An AF A332 and 2E/L (to the left) and 2E/M (to the right) piers on the backdrop.
Views of 2E/M pier and of AF A380 (F-HPJC) taxiing to the pier.
The last glance on the eastern side of 2E/M pier with 2 AF A380s (F-HPJC and -HPJE) and AF A343 (F-GLZO) and then we start thundering down the runway. It was the last ever time I saw an AF whalejet and AF A343…
The western side of 2E/M pier and 3 AF B77Ws. After the pandemic demise of the whalejets, B77Ws became the flagships of the AF fleet.
The eastern side of 2E/L pier with one more AF B77W.
The western side of 2E/L pier with AF A320 in JOON livery, TAROM B738, AF A320 in Skyteam livery, Flybe DH4 and AF A320. This photo is purely historical, as the JOON livery is now long gone from AF fleet, RO is no longer allowed to 2E/L pier, as Romania became part of Schengen zone from 2024, and Flybe ceased its operations in eary March 2020 (then followed an unsuccessful restart in April 2022, but the "new Flybe" went bust very soon in January 2023).
The tube of 2E/K pier with AF widebodies.
EK A380 and SU A321 - both in special liveries - near T2C. Now a SU aircraft in an EU airport is absolutely unimaginable.
UU B77W, ET B77W and DL B763 on the remote stand near T2A.
LY B77E and AH A332 near the rotundal satellite of T2A.
Overflying the west part of the giant airport with T1 in sight.
The "octopus-like" complex of T1 with QR A380, MS B789, governmental A343 and some other widebodies. In the next moment the ground completely disappeared in the clouds. The next time I visited CDG happened only 3 years after, in March 2023…
As we're reaching the cruise FL, there's nothing but dull "milk" below. A vast cyclon completely swallowed Northern-Western Europe…
A view of the crew's jumpseat near 3R door and the lavatories between 3L/R doors from my seat.
An inflight view of the rear economy cabin. One can see how empty was the cabin!
The lavatories are typical for Dreamliners with sensors instead of buttons.
Let's dive into IFE a bit. The main screen, the main menu and the flight map with different modes.
The crew hand oshibori, and this means the start of the meal service. Needless to say that the crew were very friendly.
As far as I remember, in the pre-pandemic times AF was the only EU airline with printed menus on long-haul flights.
An here's the meal. The dinner - Chicken in Chasseur sauce with mashed potatoes and green beans plus Tabbouleh plus Camembert cheese plus "Paris-Brest" pastry (another reminder of the famous cycling marathon a.k.a. brevet!) was tasty and filling. Even champagne was available for the drinking! The only downside was the wooden cutlery.
Cheers!
Let's continue exploring the IFE content. An example of music selection, info on AFKL destinations with Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile as the examples, and some info about AF in Africa (where France for historical reasons have the most ties than anywhere in the world).
As there was nothing to see over the cloud-covered North Atlantic, I went to sleep. Having a "poor man's business class" (the whole seat triplet) at my disposal made the sleep very comfortable. When I woke up, the windows were dimmed to blackout mode and locked by the crew (which is now the norm for daytime longhaul flights on Dreamliners in any airline).
In the rear galley there was a snack bar with very decent selection.
Meanwhile we were entering the Caribbean Sea over St. Lucia and Martinique.
Thankfully, the crew left the portholes in the doors unlocked, making one able to look outside. Some views of the mentioned Caribbean island states and the sky over them.
Getting closer to the Venezuelan airspace.
Fluffy clouds before the landfall.
Views of the Venezuelan mountains in the light of the evening sun.
The sky with convective cauliflowers near Venezuela-Colombia border and the views of the mountains, towering above the lower level of the clouds, were beautiful.
When we were overflying Colombia…
… the second meal service started. Even though AF doesn't serve two hot meals on its flight of this length, the snack bag was of a very high quality - 10 heads above the trash IB was serving as snacks on MAD-SCL flight (and moreso on SCL-MAD) a year before. For the drinking juice and coffee were available.
The sky over Colombia was mostly overcast, but the setting sun started to lighten the clouds.
Flying past some impressive clouds formation…
… we entered Ecuadorean airspace.
From this moment the sun started to go under the horizon, producing some beautiful glow on the high-level clouds.
Meanwhile we started our descent to Quito.
During the descent the crew handed caramels in the colors of the French flag.
The beautiful afterglow of the sunset.
Light of Quito shortly before landing in UIO.
The Economy Cabin After The Flight
Some views of the economy cabins upon disembarkment.
The Premium Economy Cabin After The Flight
A couple of views of the premium economy upon disembarkment. As one can see, the cabin was untouched, that means that its load was zero. When everyone has its own seat triplet in economy, the premium economy has zero advantages.
The Business Cabin After The Flight
The crew thankfully permitted me to look into the business cabin, located between 1L/R and 2L/R doors. It consists of 30 Safran Cirrus 2C08 reverse-herringbone seats in 1-2-1 layout. A very typical (and quite dull-looking) business class for Dreamliners, nothing cutting-edge and not that much privacy. But the soft product must be very solid, according to the AF standards.
The Aircraft After The Flight
A view of the aircraft, being prepared for the return nonstop flight to CDG. As UIO is a high-elevation airport (2400 MASL), nighttime departure helps with the air density (due to the cooler air compared to the daytime) and eases payload restrictions for long-haul flights from such airports.
Some views of the airside of UIO from the arrival gallery. Quite nice, but nothing outstanding.
Another reminder of the upcoming pandemic near the entrance to the immigration. "Republica del Cacao" is one of the touristic slogans in Ecuador. In post-Soviet countries Ecuador is still called "Republica del Banano", which is not true.
Money exchanger (for those coming with the currencies other than USD, which is the official currency of Ecuador since early 2000s) and the promotion of the Quito's historical heritage.
The information desk on the arrivals level.
A loom, producing souvenir bracelets, on the 2nd level of the terminal.
FID for departures from UIO. One can see the domination of US airlines and some Latin American airlines that disappeared from the skies during the pandemic: TAME (ceased operations in May 2020) and Interjet (ceased operations in December 2020). One can also guess that Aeroregional also was not doing well back then, but it managed to survive.
A view of UIO terminal from the outside. As I was hurrying to find a taxi to the city, I skipped visiting the check-in hall, which should be spacious and nice, as one can guess on this photo.
Thank you for your attention and welcome into the next FR: GYE-AMS on KL B77E.
