First Trip Report: AF LHR-TLS in Y
May 8, 2002, 5:37 am
#1
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: UK - the nearest airport is named after a motorway !
Posts: 4,235
First Trip Report: AF LHR-TLS in Y
First time for many years on Air France, and first trip report:
AF 3043, LHR-TLS
May 3, 20:15
Checked in nice and easy at LHR T2 (first time there in years, not great but better than T3
), through security in a few miinutes, and boarding more or less on time. Equipment was a Bae 146 operated by British European in AF colours with AF crew. We had 18A and C, last row of the plane with no B seat in 17 and 18. Seats a bit old, but about 34” pitch and good width back there – comfortable.
Drinks and dinner service started about 10 mins after takeoff – started from the back, which was good. No choice of food – some sort of tandoori chicken fillet (cold) with salad, bread roll and cheese, teeny apple pie and custard. All surprisingly tasty ! Good drinks selection (one pass only), a tasty Morgon for me, and some Heidseck Dry Monopole for soon-to-be-Mrs Stewie Mac.
Landed at TLS bang on time, and with Hertz #1 Club, was on the road within 15 minutes of getting off the plane.
AF 3042, TLS-LHR
May 7, 18:35
Check in again easy, with a very friendly AF lady – was expecting much worse from the conversation on the AF board. However, when we asked how long it would take to get the Frequence Plus bumf through, she did the gallic shrug thing
While waiting at the gate noticed a ‘SuperCarrier’ with an Airbus painted tail – sorta looks like a puffer fish with stubby wings and 2 engines. I guess that it’s used to transport parts of Airbus fuselages around – anyone got any more info ? Sure looked weird.
Seats this time were 15 A and B – same good pitch, but definitely less width than the pair at the back. Pushback was 6 minutes early, and our takeoff roll began bang on 18:35. Dinner was no choice and similar to the way out (sadly no custard with the apple pie this time
) and no Beaujolais, so champagne for both of us.
Landing was smooth, the walk to baggage reclaim was less than a mile (always a pleasant surprise at LHR) and our bag was first off
.
All in all, a very pleasant experience with AF (which is just as well, since my Dad just moved to Agen and we’ll likely be doing it every 3-4 months for the forseeable future).
Thanks for listening.
Stewart
AF 3043, LHR-TLS
May 3, 20:15
Checked in nice and easy at LHR T2 (first time there in years, not great but better than T3
), through security in a few miinutes, and boarding more or less on time. Equipment was a Bae 146 operated by British European in AF colours with AF crew. We had 18A and C, last row of the plane with no B seat in 17 and 18. Seats a bit old, but about 34” pitch and good width back there – comfortable.Drinks and dinner service started about 10 mins after takeoff – started from the back, which was good
. No choice of food – some sort of tandoori chicken fillet (cold) with salad, bread roll and cheese, teeny apple pie and custard. All surprisingly tasty ! Good drinks selection (one pass only), a tasty Morgon for me, and some Heidseck Dry Monopole for soon-to-be-Mrs Stewie Mac.Landed at TLS bang on time, and with Hertz #1 Club, was on the road within 15 minutes of getting off the plane.
AF 3042, TLS-LHR
May 7, 18:35
Check in again easy, with a very friendly AF lady – was expecting much worse from the conversation on the AF board. However, when we asked how long it would take to get the Frequence Plus bumf through, she did the gallic shrug thing
While waiting at the gate noticed a ‘SuperCarrier’ with an Airbus painted tail – sorta looks like a puffer fish with stubby wings and 2 engines. I guess that it’s used to transport parts of Airbus fuselages around – anyone got any more info ? Sure looked weird.
Seats this time were 15 A and B – same good pitch, but definitely less width than the pair at the back. Pushback was 6 minutes early, and our takeoff roll began bang on 18:35. Dinner was no choice and similar to the way out (sadly no custard with the apple pie this time
) and no Beaujolais, so champagne for both of us.Landing was smooth, the walk to baggage reclaim was less than a mile (always a pleasant surprise at LHR) and our bag was first off
.All in all, a very pleasant experience with AF (which is just as well, since my Dad just moved to Agen and we’ll likely be doing it every 3-4 months for the forseeable future).
Thanks for listening.
Stewart
May 11, 2002, 2:53 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Reality, Freedom • Fly Tarom •
Programs: AF FB Platinum For Life (F+ Rouge Vintage®) / Hertz President's Circle / SNCF Grand Voyageur Le Club
Posts: 10,077
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">However, when we asked how long it would take to get the Frequence Plus bumf through, she did the gallic shrug thing</font>
Nice trip report, thanks. AF Catering can be very good, especially on many inter-European routes.
More information on the A300-600ST Super Transporter ("Beluga") can be found at:
http://www.airbustransport.com/specs.html
and
http://www.airbustransport.com/visuals.html
P.S. Congrats to you and soon-to-be-Mrs Stewie Mac.
[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 05-11-2002).]