Part 24: Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Bucharest Otopeni (OTP) in TAROM business class
RO384 (booked as AF5050)- Airbus A318 - Seat 2F
STD 16:20pm - STA 20:10pm (flight time 2h50m)

No time to check out any lounges this time. A layover of only 1 hour and 20 minutes is not very long at most airports in the world – let alone at CDG when you have to change terminals. Knowing the airport and the French, I was honestly even a tiny bit nervous of not making it at all to my next flight. My previous Aeroflot flight arrived at Terminal 2C – and I had to go to 2E for my TAROM flight.

I was one of the first passengers to disembark and after my previous bad experience walking between terminals I opted this time for the intra-terminal bus service. Luckily, queues were pretty much absent and after a short wait I was in a near-empty bus.



I can't recall the exact details of the transfer (I should write up TR's faster... and not like this three months late) but somewhere along the route it involved both a security and passport check. Not very glamorous whatsoever, transiting CDG...



When I finally arrived at the gate after what seemed like an eternal walk at 2E, boarding has not yet commenced. Judging by the people seated at the gate area it would be a light load for the last flight of the day to Bucharest.



Within minutes after arriving at the gate, boarding commenced – with priority boarding neatly observed. I was the only passenger in the two-row business class cabin, with economy probably not being more than one third full.

TAROM is arguably one of the more unknown Sky Team airlines. To be honest, it is a mixed bunch altogether and I'm not surprised it keeps on making big losses. The airline has an odd mix of several aircraft types, including ATR's for domestic and a few short haul routes, some A318s and A319s, as well as some Boeing 737s of all sorts, from older types to new ones with gleaming sky interiors. Not what I would call the most effective way of maintaining your fleet from a cost-perspective. Until quite recently, the airline even had some ancient A310s used on routes to Spain and Dubai – the furthest points in the network. There has been some chatter of TAROM acquiring some long haul planes again to serve routes to such countries as China, although I really can't see that happening in the first place, nor being profitable whatsoever in the second place.

When booking this ticket I opted for a TAROM operated flight to Bucharest, and an Air France operated on the way back to see how the two would compare (spoiler: it wasn't even close). The biggest reason for choosing TAROM was the chance at a proper business class seat. Yet with TAROM having such a motley fleet, there is no way to tell absolutely sure in advance if you will indeed get one. Weirdly, both some of the older planes as well as some of the most recent 737 acquisition from Boeing have proper business class seats. Yet when I flew a brand new B737 with sky interior recently from Brussels it had only economy seats. There is just no constistency whatsoever in the hard product – it just seems the airline is run by someone who cannot make up his mind what planes with which seats to order!

Unfortunately, I lucked out on this flight and all I got was a crappy euro-business seat: a normal economy seat with the middle seat blocked by a tray table. Fortunately, I was the only one in business. The A318 seemed quite old and wear-and-tear was clearly visible, although the seat wasn't too uncomfortable really (modern planes are often worse with economy seats!).




The A318 business class cabin

Business class consisted out of two rows on the left side of the plane, and only one bulkhead on the right side where I was seated. On the seats, a pillow and blanket was waiting – which is a nice touch as the majority of intra-European airlines will not give you these.



The FAs on this flight were a mixed bunch. One was quite friendly while the other one was snappy and arrogant at all times. Neither of them were very proactive as they never showed their faces outside of the galley unless pushing the call button. Service commenced however quite neatly, as a warm towel and PDB was offered. Naturally, I opted for “champagne” - which after inquiring later during the flight turned out to be something called Angelli – which you can buy in a supermarket for 4 EUR. Needless to say – it was “drinkable” at best and nowhere near anything premium.


I could have flown Air France and got proper champagne...

Taxiing took not that long this time and with the A318 being a small plane we were airborne quickly in a rainy Charles de Gaulle.







There is no in-flight entertainment besides overhead screens showing the route map (which I don't mind as I always bring my own books/music, and I hardly ever look at anything else besides maps if I would have my own screen). The entire TAROM Airbus and Boeing fleet has something called “Airfi” - but don't get too excited! There is no wifi – just the opportunity to connect to the in-flight network to watch a very, very limited offering of videos and stuff.



Soon after reaching altitude, the service kicked in with the FA bringing another hot towel.



No food or drinks menus, no choices of meals whatsoever – just one tray with everything on it brought to you as soon as possible. Today's dish was some chicken and rice – which was catered in Bucharest according to the paper with tiny letters seen in the left-bottom of the picture below.



While edible, the meal was a huge disappointment after my recent Aeroflot flights and even the ultra-short Amsterdam-Paris hop on Air France. You get better stuff at your local Chinese takeaway. The buns were very chewy, the salad was super dry, and the desert was totally unremarkable. Plating was also quite horrendous in my opinion as lids were still on each bowl (with ugly stickers) and the entire tray was just crammed full of stuff. The only thing on it clearly getting a passing grade were the two pieces of cheese.

I asked for a red wine to be served with the food – which was a bog-standard 5 EUR supermarket red. Not that the wine is that bad or so (it's drinkable) – but given how much of a wine country Romania is and how good some of the (more premium wines) can be I found it to be a very underwhelming choice for business class to put it mildly. At best, it's a perfectly acceptable wine for economy class. (SPOILER: TAROM serves the exact same wine as well in economy...)



How hard can it be to deliver a real premium experience in business class? Being a FF on both Sky Team and *A (Aegean Miles & Bonus) there was such a stark contrast to Aegean Airlines, which imho serves a great soft product on its business class flights. Not only with food, but also with a separate wine menu which highlights distinct regions and changes every few months. Romanian wine can be as good as Greek wine and it's a big up and coming country in the industry. A truly premium F&B service can be a great introduction for foreigners into your country and what it has to offer. As an expat who has come to love Romania, the whole soft product was just a very big disappointment.

Not being happy with the choice of wine, I decided to have a beer instead after the meal. TAROM serves Peroni from glass bottles in business class. Yet I don't think it is anything better at all than the very decent locally brewed Ursus beer they serve in cans in economy... (let's call it the Heineken sickness, many airlines just think that a famous brand from abroad is surely the best they can offer while in fact it is not).



There was however one thing which made this flight memorable. The flight path took us straight over the entire length of the Austrian Alps – and boy, it made for some spectacular views from the window. I will let the pictures do the talking here.















Arrival in Bucharest was on time – no pictures here due to the approach route from the East which goes above farmland with zero views at night. Fortunately, we had a proper gate and within 15 minutes I had cleared passport control and was in my Uber for my ride to my home.

In short: Where to begin... if you can catch a plane with a proper business class seat, TAROM is great as it's only one of the four intra-European airlines (Turkish, Aeroflot, Air Serbia, if I have it right) who have proper business class seats on narrow-body planes. If you can't, it's an entirely different story.

FAs get a passing grade at best compared to other airlines, the meal is not much better than your local Chinese takeaway, and a ...... 4-EUR supermarket sparkling wine and the same wines as in economy are served. I would just never pay the full business class price for such a TAROM flight to be honest – also because economy class on TAROM is actually relatively good. On 2-3 hour-long routes you get a proper warm meal, two drink rounds including alcohol. And basically you fly in the same seat..! Especially after flying the return sector on Air France back to Paris, it would become quite clear how much the airline is lagging behind in its soft product.. a pity!

Yet maybe I'm a bit too harsh – as there are airlines which have an even more unremarkable service in J on short intra-European hops (KL, LH..). Tough one to call!

Next up: The return portion of the big trip: exploring exotic and rainy Azerbaijan with flights on Air France, Azerbaijan Airlines and KLM in business class, as well as spending some more time in beautiful Norway.