andypandy

I nearly missed my flight the other day.
We landed at CDG from BERLIN at 2F and I had to transfer to 2E gate 30 on a flight to MAN.

Now, looking at the map there is a direct connection between F and E, but do I have to go to the public area for this and I just followed the signs...
I ended up on the walkway to 2E 51-76, walking all the way over to 2E 51-76 and taking the train back to 2E 28-47.

That took ages and I nearly missed my flight.
So, should I have left the air side and crossed to 2E on land side?
Or did I do it the fastest way?

Goldorak

Definitely yes !

JOUY31

+1

benvs97

Yes! Always check which part of the E terminal you have to go. E28 to E47 is opposite to 2F and there is a good internal walkway. From 2F to E51 - E76 it is better to take the route you made before boarding the train.

michael9

I so recognize this situation and talked with several other business travellers and stewardesses about it. Our mutual idea about CDG 2 ... Chaos.

Xandrios

I had 30 mins to transfer from 2D to 2F last night. What a horrible, horrible experience. Also I still find it quite ridiculous that one needs to go landside for a transfer between Shengen flights.

Internaut

Surely the simplest thing to do is take the bus without going land-side (it's what I did on Sunday, arriving in 2F from Abidjan and needing to get to E22 for my flight to MAN)?

Edit: Ok, arriving from Berlin = Schengen zone so yes, going land-side is probably a good idea.

bakkain

hi andypandy,
i am doing a similar travel from 2F to 2E soon. How long time did it take you finally? My connection time is 1 hr and 15 min. and i am afraid it is not enough given that I need to pass passport and security control at 11pm.

I do not know which gate in terminal E yet. But am I correct that E28-47 & E51-76 are reachable on foot?

Appreciate if you could tell me what is meant by land side and air side.
Thanks a lot!

Goldorak

Land side means that you leave the secure area to reach the public zone and move to the other terminal and go through immigration (if applicable) and security (as if you were starting your trip in CDG).
Airside means you are staying in the "sterile" transit zone. That doesn't mean that you don't have to go through security again. But if you are making a non-schengen to non-schengen connection, you don't have to go through immigration (twice)

Otherwise, it would be helpful if you precise us if your connection is schengen to non-schengen or non-schengen to non-schengen.
If it is a schengen to non-schengen one, I definitely recommend you to walk yo 2E, whatever your gate is at 2E. If it is E28-47, you proceed to arrival at 2F, as if you were ending your trip in CDG and, when you arrive in the public zone, just go straight ahead to 2E (it will be a 5 min walk only). If E51-76 (satellite S3 of 2E), you have to stay airside and follow the signs for these gates. The walk is longer than for the other gates but this is clearly the best way to do it

bakkain

hi Godorak, thanks a lot for your reply.

my flight is as below. It guess it is Schengen to non-Schengen rite?
AF7649
9:00 PM Lyon, Lyon Saint Exupéry
10:10 PM Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG), FRANCE

AF188
11:25 PM Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG), FRANCE - Terminal 2E
5:55 PM Hong Kong, Hong Kong Intl (HKG), HONG

If i follow your way to walk to arrival 2F and then to 2E, does it mean i need to go through the immigration again (p.s. i m holding HK passport not EU, but does not require visa to enter France)?
i am afraid i could not catch the flight on time???

One more question is how do i know which direction is the "airside"? Is it signed well when i get off?
And I assume there will be signs to show the way to 2E / 2F ........hopefully it is so...Thanks again.

Goldorak

Regarding immigration, whatever you choose to do (stay airside or go landside), it will be the same. You clear immigration only once when you leave the Schengen area, i.e. in CDG.
I noticed also that you have a short and late time connection. So it is possible that you will be awaited by an AF agent to speed-up your connection. If you are not assisted, proceed as I explained in my post dated 23/02.
For the signage, if you stay airside, check the gate to HKG on the monitor and follow the signs to your gate. If you go landside, follow the baggage claim/exit signs and proceed to 2E.

bakkain

thanks goldorak!
your reply is just so informative and helpful.
hope i will be able to make it otherwise i have to wait for 14 hours for the next AF flight to hk.

angelacustoda

Hi i am using Air france for going to America and i ll stop in CDG
from terminal 2f to 2e how can i go? I dont know the gate yet but i ll use just transit visa

ISTANBUL TR PARIS FR 0615 0855
ATATURK CHARLES DE GAULLE
NON STOP TERMINAL INTL TERMINAL 2F DURATION 3:40


SAT 02JUN PARIS FR CHICAGO IL 1030 1230
CHARLES DE GAULLE O'HARE INTL
NON STOP TERMINAL 2E

i dont know any french words and that really bothers me :/

Goldorak

Don't worry, no need to speak French to connect in CDG . Just check your gate to ORD on the monitors when you disembark in CDG and follow the signs for term 2E/your gate.

mtkeller

I agree about no need to speak French at CDG, although security screeners and border police like to pretend they speak little to no English (I literally had one border agent who couldn't figure out how to ask me when I'd entered the Schengen zone without turning to his neighbor and asking for help.)

I had to do 2F-2E(28-47) yesterday connecting from LAX to LHR. It was confusing, and I thought I knew my way around CDG. (Well, honestly, I was expecting 2E-2E since that's what I did with LHR-CDG-ORD a week earlier, but I've done other transits there before pretty easily. It seems that maybe we came into 2F because we were late and they needed the aircraft there for its next flight or didn't have a free gate at 2E, as the AF site indicates all US flights use 2E.) If you're stuck doing 2F to the low 2E gates, you find yourself (at least where I entered the transit area) with signs for the high 2E gates and random 2E arrow signs, but it's hard to figure out where you're going for the low 2E gates. Eventually, you notice this little door that enters what appears to be a corridor but is actually a stairway/escalator down to a bus area and there are signs there suggesting that it's the right way for the low 2E gates. I then took it two stops around to the low 2E gates area, went up and cleared security, and then proceeded to the lounge for a shower before heading to the gate. I have no idea if this bus route was the fastest way, but it was the only thing I could figure out that came close to following the signs. (What is it with the French and using arrows that point down to mean "Go straight ahead"?)

The good news for angelacustoda (Welcome to FT, btw!) is that with my delayed arrival from LAX, my 2F-2E connection time had been reduced to roughly what is in the itinerary posted. I had time for a (quick) shower, so the connection should definitely be doable, especially if not to the low 2E gates.