Not long before I took this flight, Air France KLM migrated their operation at Frankfurt Airport from the horrible Terminal 2 to the newly opened Terminal 3, which means that I’ll be getting to experience the new terminal on my trip to Paris. With the opening of Terminal 3, Terminal 2 has been closed down and will undergo refurbishment. A process expected to take several years.

Routing

> ZRH LH Y FRA A319

> FRA AF C CDG E195

> CDG AF C SIN B77W

> SIN SQ C CNS A359

> CNS ZL Y ISA SF34

> ISA QF Y TSV DH8D

> TSV QF Y CNS DH8D

> CNS QF C DRW E190

> DRW QF C SYD B738

> SYD KE C ICN B781

> ICN KL C AMS B789

> AMS KL C FRA E175

> FRA EN Y BSL E190

Getting to Frankfurt Terminal 3

The flight to Paris CDG departs Frankfurt at 09h45. I have a leisurely breakfast at the Hilton Frankfurt Airport and then exit the hotel at 07h03. From the hotel I take the escalator down one floor to the long-distance railway station. And then from there I walk the long corridor that links the station to Terminal 1, followed by the footbridge to the station for the Skytrain to Terminals 2 and 3. There is a train every four minutes and the journey from the Terminal 1 terminus to Terminal 3 is about ten minutes. All in all, it takes me twenty minutes door to door, from the hotel to Terminal 3.

Air France Business Class Check-In

I’ve already checked in online. However, Air France still needs to see my eVisa, and so I’ll have to go to a counter to have my boarding pass issued. Here in Terminal 3 Air France checks in on row 35. The place is still a bit of a mess, and it’s not always clear which queue is for which counter and airline. Five people ahead of me in the Air France SkyPriority queue are turned away because they should have been queuing for the Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi checking in on the next counter.

The new terminal is nice. It’s quite bare and way too functional to be an architectural masterpiece, but I like it. What is quite unusual here is that there is no duty free shop behind security, which is also rather pleasant. There generally are only very few shops. Right now the terminal is still rather quiet and not overly crowded. Not all airlines have moved in yet.

The woman checking me in verifies my documents and issues my boarding pass. She tells me that I’m a day too early to visit the new Schengen SkyTeam Lounge, as it will only be opening the next day. Instead, she hands me a voucher for EUR20 and a gearpin by way of an apology.

Air France Business Class Lounge

My flight is departing from gate H08 on the Schengen concourse. As I walk along the gates, I pass a set of capsule hotel rooms and the escalators that will be leading passengers up to the airline lounges as of the next day. I continue to the end of the pier and park myself by the window so I can watch the approaches from the West. The place is deserted and all you can hear is the sound of the building… until a family appears – grandparents, parents, and their satanic spawn. Seriously? Of all the places they could choose to sit in a mostly empty huge airport terminal, they have to park themselves right behind be. If it’s not the piercing, high-pitched voice of their obnoxious daughter, it’s the debilitating sounds of the video game she’s playing that shatter the peaceful silence. I pack up my bags and move away.

Air France Business Class Boarding

The inbound from Paris arrives on time and pulls onto its stand at gate H08 at 09h05. I while away my time watching the ground crew ready the aircraft for its return flight to Paris. When boarding eventually starts, it’s by boarding zones, starting with zone 1 for Business Class passengers.

Air France Business Class Cabin & Seat

There are seven seats in Business Class today, with the cabin divider behind row four. However, the load is light and there are only four passengers in the forward cabin. I’m seated on row 2 on the port side, and the pitch is comfortable – the adjustable head rests provide good support if you’re in need of a short nap. There is a USB and USB C port in the seat back, and high speed wifi is available too. Unlike KLM, Air France blocks the adjacent seat in Business Class.

Air France Business Class Service & Crew

There are three cabin crew on this flight, and they’re just lovely. The purser is about my age and looks kind of serious, but his face lights up when he interacts with passengers. He’s assisted by a female crew member. As usual, a small bottle of still water and a packaged towel have been placed at each occupied seat – including 1A, which eventually remains empty. The flight time to Paris is one hour.

Air France Business Class Meal

The meal service starts as soon as the bread rolls have finished warming in the hot air oven. The meal that is served today is the same one I had a while back when I was on my way from Montreal to Berlin with Air France. It’s a nice and flavourful dish. It is served with croissants and bread rolls, and the crew encourage passengers to pick more than just the one roll.

Arrival in Paris CDG 2G

We don’t stay in the cruise for very long, and soon after the trays are collected again, the captain announces the top of descent. It’s not quite so hot in the Paris area today as it was in Frankfurt, which means that there’s less heat haze and therefore better ground visibility. What always amazes me when flying into Paris CDG, is just how long the long final is. They seem to line up the aircraft for the approach from quite a distance away.

We land on time and are treated to a first row view of an Air France A 350-900 and then a UPS B 747-8F rotating right in front of us.

The flight terminates at Terminal 2G. From there I need to catch a shuttle to bring me to the main terminal complex. The stop for the shuttle bus is right outside Terminal 2E. From there it’s just a short walk to the railway stations of the local RER Line B to Paris and the TGV Grande Lignes. From next year, there will also be the CDG Express that runs directly to Paris Gare de Montparnasse.

Also next year, Aéroports de Paris will be undertaking a renaming of the Terminals, which should be interesting and likely cause a bit of chaos initially. Under the new scheme, Terminals 1 (the flying saucer) and Terminal 3 (the lowcost and Iberia terminal) remain unchanged. However, Terminal 2E becomes Terminal 5, 2F becomes Terminal 6, and 2G becomes Terminal 7. I understand that today’s Terminals 2A, B, C, and D will be demolished/redeveloped, and will then reopen as Terminals 2 and 4.

Conclusion – Air France Short-Haul Business Class

This was another pleasant short flight with Air France Business Class from Frankfurt to Paris CDG. I like the new Terminal 3 in Frankfurt, and I’m sure it will ease at least some of the congestion at Terminal 1. A few things are a bit strange, though, or at least unexpected, like the absence of a huge duty free shop. But it’s still early days, and not all airlines have moved in. Condor, for example, has yet to move, and they have a sizeable presence in Frankfurt. Air France was, as usual, consistent and predictable. It’s a shame I missed sampling the new lounge by one day, but I kind of like how the airline made up for it. It’s a small gesture, but it’s nice.