Flying the World : Frankfurt - Paris

[hkskyline]

Flight Information

This flight was sponsored by Lufthansa :


LH 4210 Frankfurt - Paris Charles de Gaulle
Scheduled Departure : 0735
Flight Time : about 45 minutes

There was about a 20 minute delay for boarding as the pilot was stuck in traffic. A backup pilot was called and he rushed to the airport for the flight. In fact, he just arrived 20 minutes before we started boarding.

The airplane was parked outside the terminal building, so passengers were bused to the aircraft.

Awaiting boarding :




On the bus to the aircraft :








The aircaft :





Neighboring Planes











Taxi









Takeoff to Paris :













The crew was frantically distributing sandwiches and drinks since the flight was only 45 minutes long. Almost everyone on board were male businessmen. It wasn't a full flight and I took a seat right at the back with a window view.





The skies got more cloudy as we approached Paris :



















CDG 1 is quite old. There is an open area in the middle where several glass-covered escalators criss-cross each other.



All sorts of airplanes and Air France :

[mumbojumbo]

Very cool.

Nice report

[Sumeet]

i love that design ^

[Urban Dave]

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing them.
I was in Charles De Gaulle this summer, I think Terminal 3??' I can't remember, it's were all low-cost go, and is a really bad terminal! XD

[hkskyline]

Is there a Terminal 3? I thought I saw an easyJet before, while some discount carriers such as Ryanair use Beauvais to the north of Paris.

[FM 2258]

WOW, awesome, awesome pictures. That A320 looked sweeet.

[hkskyline]

What I didn't like at both Frankfurt and Munich airports was the bus ride to the aircraft. The Airbus was perfectly capable of parking at the terminal, but I guess it's because of the heavy traffic that it had to stay on the tarmac. It was quite a hassle going down the stairs to board the bus and riding for a good 5-10 minutes to reach the aircraft.

That being said, the buses were far more comfortable than the commuter-style shuttles at Toronto Pearson.

[Fabio]

nice, report and quite nice pics too.

[cladiv]

excellent report

[kiretoce]

Nice photos and great report!

[BMXican]

the flight was delayed because the pilot was stuck in traffic? how embarrassing - for the pilot and the airline


hkskyline: the time you flew is the worst time to take off. it's the busiest time of the day. no wonder your plane was parked away from the terminal.

[Justme]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

What I didn't like at both Frankfurt and Munich airports was the bus ride to the aircraft. The Airbus was perfectly capable of parking at the terminal, but I guess it's because of the heavy traffic that it had to stay on the tarmac. It was quite a hassle going down the stairs to board the bus and riding for a good 5-10 minutes to reach the aircraft.

That being said, the buses were far more comfortable than the commuter-style shuttles at Toronto Pearson.

This is very true and is one of the great mystery's of German airports. Terminal 2 in Frankfurt always has space with free airbridges, but they often don't bother using them.

No one I know has any idea why this is the case, and it is such a common thing to happen at Frankfurt airport.

[nikolaidis]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

What I didn't like at both Frankfurt and Munich airports was the bus ride to the aircraft.

I remember very well the very first and last time I was at Frankfurt ( April 1998 )...
When our bus was on its way to our Lufthansa A320, our bus had to make a tremendous emergency-break for a little truck with luggage on it... People flew earlier than expected through the air and were hurt. It had been very close, and the busdriver was furious on the truckdriver.

[hkskyline]

Yes, the airport was very crowded that morning with a lot of businessmen on my flight to Paris. In fact, I think I was the only tourist there. Everyone else was dressed in office outfits.

[zoheb741]

great report