PARIS CDG AIRPORT   Passenger Reviews and Customer opinions

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  18 September 2009 by Nick Fortuna   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Is Paris CDG is different for the sake of it? Or is it because the ADP cannot plan airports properly? Flew in/out of Terminal 2D. After being bussed from the aircraft, and negotiating some stairs, we ended up in the check-in area, through which you have to pass to collect your luggage. Check-in is cramped enough without the added masses of arriving Schengen flights. Luggage came out quickly enough. Finding the train station was easy enough, but why on earth install ticketing machines that do not accept bank notes? Finding EUR8.50 in coin isn't that easy. Using credit cards requires you to enter a pin code. Flying out was relatively pain-free (for Paris), with easy access from the TGV train. Not many trolleys available on the concourse though. In their wisdom, the French check the passport/etix before entering the check-in area. Signage once inside is also unclear - had to ask staff to locate the OS counters. Check-in area is cramped and stuffy. Security was courteous, but the waiting area by the gates is woefully inadequate.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  18 September 2009 by J Yule   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Avoid transit thru terminal 2 if you have less than 1.5hrs or less between flights. I struggled to make my flight in 1hr due to waiting for bus to transfer me between terminals & huge queue at security. Security staff don't care if you are about to miss your flight. Didn't see my luggage again for 3 days! However terminal is clean and found enough places to sit once thru security.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  9 September 2009 by H Laporte   (Belgium)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I have been through CDG many times in the past few years and I can't say I have been impressed. Terminal 2 is light and modern, but lacks restaurants, bars and other shops once you have passed security. Staff is neither friendly nor rude. But then comes the most unbelievable of all - on four flights out of Paris, I had to take a shuttle bus to a parking spot on an apron quite far from the terminal three times - twice on a B777 and once an A330. And these three flights were on the Air France! A national carrier, at its main hub and I must endure a 15-minute bus ride to my plane? I have never been to terminal 1 so can't talk about it. Terminal 3 is more like a low-cost, small, smelly and far from the rest of the airport. I have been through many major airports and I can say that among European hubs, CDG is far behind AMS, FRA, LHR and BRU.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  2 September 2009 by A Errington   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Quite the most unpleasant airport. We spent fifteen minutes walking from the train station, with hand luggage. Hideous overpriced shops and awful bar selling sandwiches and baguettes . The signs told us that there were more bars and shops so we traipsed along, but there were none. The check in was ok, but I can't remember anything else so ugly or unwelcoming, Paris do something about it!

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  22 July 2009 by S Symon   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Charles de Gaulle is a dump. The terminal buildings are scattered all over the place and there are few places to find something to eat. When I was boarding my flight to Turin, I noticed there wasn't even a plane waiting for us at the jetway. For some stupid reason, we were bused from Terminal 2D to Terminal 2E (which for some reason are not next to one another) and seemed to drive in circles for about 10 minutes until the driver finally figured out where the plane was. We then had to climb circular stairs to the jetway to board our flight! We then flew from CDG to Aberdeen about two weeks later. Once again, we were bussed halfway across the airport to a small, dainty building with Air France's smaller planes parked all over the place. In other words, if you want passenger-friendly terminals and to be able to see your plane from the terminal building, avoid CDG. It is the most unorganized airport in the world. People complain about Heathrow and Heathrow's queues. Wait until you fly from CDG! Security was inefficient, and check-in was even worse. We waited 30 minutes to check-in during which the line quadrupled in size. Air France is a good airline, but CDG is a terrible airport. Furthermore, the Air France flights are split amongst at least four different concourses amongst other airlines. I know BA's flights have been all over the place at Heathrow, but most of them now operate from the same Terminal.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  16 July 2009 by Adrian Kendrick   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Quite the most appalling airport in Europe, totally without any thought for passengers. I have given them two chances just lately on flights from Hannover (HAJ) to Birmingham (BHX) and that is the last. Flight from Hannover to CDG no problem but arrive at terminal G then walk for mile down concrete passage and have to take bus to terminal 2, go through endless security and baggage check then wait in lounge, now down to bus and back to terminal G for flight to Birmingham. Why transport people from one terminal to another when the first terminal is the one they will depart from?

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  14 July 2009 by Simon Dobson   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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An absolute disgrace to the French nation! I travel through CDG terminal 2E every other week. Arriving at 2E there are usually only 2 Police checking passports and I have had to wait anything up to a half hour at 10pm to clear passport control. The last straw was coming back on 12th July, the busiest week-end of the year for travelling in France. I had checked in my bag with Air France and went straight to passport control. There was only one person on duty checking passports at the peak of the afternoon. I waited a half hour in line and pleaded with an ADP person controlling the queue that I was going to miss my flight, he rudely refused to help. I then had the same experience trying to clear security, another badly organised bunch. The staff are rude, unhelpful and they don't care if you miss your flight. I finally got to the gate to find it had closed. I had to wait another 24 hours to get on the next flight. Fortunately I have somewhere to stay in Paris. I feel for Air France because they have to deal with the shambolic Aeroport de Paris (ADP) who run this airport. Someone really needs to do something about this National disgrace as it must give foreign visitors a dire impression of France and it's organisational abilities.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  8 July 2009 by Martin Pashley   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Terrible airport - security the slowest and most random I have ever encountered-they asked me to take all the coins out of a ruck sack bag. (why weren't they asking people to take coins out of their wallets?). Only one place to get food and drink in the international terminal - which only had one poor girl serving, so queue a mile long. Just not up to the standard of a major international airport - which is a shame as Air France are pretty good.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  8 July 2009 by Jeff McMahon   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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A terrible place to transfer. We flew Croatia Airlines from Zagreb, and needed to connect with a Continental Flight at deGaulle. Big mistake. Fortunately the Continental flight was delayed, otherwise we would have missed it while riding buses around and around with drivers and dispatchers almost comically disorganized and officious types not allowing us to even board the bus without an e-ticket, regardless of the fact that we needed to get the ticket from the ticket desk, reachable only by the bus. Terrible signage, little interest in being of assistance, and degrading/exhausting processing. And the slowest security screening I have ever experienced.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  8 July 2009 by Andre Sevin   (Malaysia)

Customer Rating :  5/5

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Arrival to Terminal 1 by Malaysia Airlines : complete change in this terminal. from Ugly to welcoming, nice looking and easy to go from one location to another one. Paris to Cairo using Terminal 2E. Really great place. Numerous shops, clean, many facilities. Unfortunately, not possible to take benefit of the 3rd part of this terminal (S3-Galerie Parisienne).

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  27 June 2009 : by M Fukuda   (Japan)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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I never imagined such a complicated airport like CDG. It was my first time to fly from Osaka to Munich via Paris. I asked one of the staffs there which gate I should go, for there was no information about my next flight on the nearby departure screens. But what is the worst thing in CDG is definitely that only a few staff can speak English and they are very rude. I can't speak French, and I reckon it caused me some troubles. I was so tired after 12 hours flight, and although I managed to reach the departure gate in time, the plane had already gone. They left just because the passengers were full, I mean all boarded except me! Consequently I had to stay in Paris overnight because the flight was the last one of that day.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  27 June 2009 : by B Holdstock   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  5/5

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Flew from Perth, Australia to Paris onto Tel Aviv - entered and exited via Terminal 2 E. Was very impressed with what I saw. It was 6am the first time around. I enjoyed a coffee, croissant and walked around the shops. I thought the architecture, lines and design of the new buildings were outstanding. I easily found my way around. Helpful staff were waiting to point people in the right direction. The same can be said for returning 5 weeks later. I had a small dinner of a drink and sandwich - under 10 Euros. Once again walked around and had a good snoop at the shops. Some were closing as it was nearing 10 o'clock. The toilets were clean and large. After reading so many bad reviews I was fearful of landing in Paris. I felt I had to say thanks for a smooth transfer. Staff at security were friendly. Exit Tel Aviv then you have something to complain about !

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  23 June 2009 : by G Dowty   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Transiting from Copenhagen through Paris was like being in a cattle call. The mob scene at the additional security check was frightening with literally thousands of people fighting their way through completely disorganized and chaotic non-lines with at least 12 abreast trying to make it through 3 security stations. The very few staff that could be seen were totally nonchalant and unconcerned. I echo the previous post about amenities in 2E. Few sanitary facilities, food or other resources. Stay away from this airport if at all possible.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  14 June 2009 : by K van Rijn  (France)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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As a frequent user of Charles de Gaulle Airport and most of it's terminals, my 3 year experiences. This airport is only an international airport by number of flights - not by standard or comfort. CDG is a confused disarrangement of buildings of different eras - from formerly futuristic, but now totally outdated and dark Terminal 1 to undersized Terminals 2 and shanty-like Terminal 3. Somehow randomly connected, inconsistently signposted, during late hours frighteningly deserted, during rush hours incredibly overcrowded, passengers in transit should take more than the usual time for this little adventure. Moreover, absurd organisation and bad planning bother travellers. Person checking tickets before ticket machines and counters are available, insufficient number of seats, running out of food at snack bars, bad distribution of passengers to security control, control of the stream of passengers by acclamation, and much more bad experiences. The worst of all is that travellers cannot count on any improvement as there are no major comprehensive works, rearrangements or reconstructions in sight - building a new airport in a different locality seems to be the only solution.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT review :  10 June 2009 : by Michael Orridge  (France)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Live in Paris and fly out regularly. RER B is so unreliable that I'm forced to leave a good few hours before the flight meaning that I'm either too early and sat around waiting (if there's no problems) or have to sprint through the terminal (if the RER decides in characteristic fashion to wait between stations for an unspecified length of time). Major complaint with the airport itself is the design of T2, if you're cautious about the time and go though security ASAP you'll find that there's very little on the other side, sometimes just a cafe and some toilets - sometimes not even toilets (cue screaming children who need the loo and are unable to go). Food offerings at the airport are also limited, the whole thing could do with some colour on top of the bare concrete, and the systems dont ever seem to work that well (eg not enough passport checkers at peak times, a PA system that isn't loud enough meaning that you can't hear if your flight is being called whilst you're waiting for security).