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Rating = 1.0 (very poor) to 5.0 (excellent) |
Paris CDG Airport review by Nick Biskinis
19 January 2007
How France, with a strong history of 'Les Grands Projets' and transport
infrastructure development managed to conceive such a dismal airport
devoid at every level of practicality is a mystery. The RER (suburban
metro) station for CDG Terminal 1 is situated far away from the actual
terminal necessitating a further bus journey, which is inconvenient for
passengers. The Terminal 2 complex (in every sense of the word) was part
of a grand design that went wrong. The Terminal is not one but a
clusters of mini-terminals (called Halls in France) called 2A, 2B etc.
Trouble is that with the exception of 2F they have limited gate capacity
so that not many planes can use each 'Hall. Furthermore this means some
of these Halls are situated far apart. The result is transferring within
these terminals either requires a farirly long walk (and you cannot use
the luggage trolleys beyond one of the mini-terminals) or else have to
wait for one of the inter-terminal buses. Yet often the road is
cluttered with traffic as cars/buses do not have enough space to park
next to the terminal for dropping off passengers. So the inter-terminal
buses themselves are often delayed. Paris CDG is trying to remedy this
with a new inter-terminal railway - Roissyval - but that keeps being
delayed (i notice that under the advert proclaiming an opening date of
'August 2006 someone wrote 'In God we trust'). Much of the Terminal 2
complex has dated badly and inside is cluttered. In some respects CDG
Terminal 2 looks like a grandiose version of Heathrow, but with all the
drawbacks of lack of space and concrete ambience. Terminal 2F is the
only part of the airport that is genuinely well-designed and pleasant to
use. Not surprising that Air France is trying to consolidate as many of
its flights there as possible. Paris CDG is a mess, and you have to
assume that the airport's growth is propelled by its one trump card
which is large runway capacity. But long-term the poor organisation and
lay-out of Paris CDG will harm Air France's obvious ambitions to be the
leading transfer airline. Paris CDG could have been a great airport had
it stuck to a more rational vision of unified Terminal buildings and
properly situated transport hubs for rail and bus. You get the
impression that somewhere along the way rationalism was jettisoned in
favour of an over-amibitious vision that got lost in the concrete
jungle. It is ironic that countries often have bad airports because they
are obsessed with presenting the right image. What this means is that
they forget the basics of an airport as mode of convenience and instead
go for architectural excess that proves impractical down the line with
compromises to fit the 'vision'. Instead airports should be kept as
rational as possible and as convenient in lay-out. When this is
established then you can embellish a terminal stylistically. Airports
like Amsterdam, Munich, Athens prove the point. As Paris CDG will no
doubt expand, you hope that when they build new terminals they learn
from their mistakes. Errors in planning cannot be rubbed out, other than
with a bulldozer.
Paris CDG Airport review by J Rundo
20 December 2006
Nobody has mentioned what I find to be the worst thing about CDG: the
poor lighting: I usually return home to Milan with a flight in the
evening and I find it so miserable in the semi-darkness of CDG - let
alone those "subterranean" cafés where everything is finished by 800pm.
Paris CDG Airport review by J Bertani
27 November 2006
Frequently transiting in CDG I agree it is not passenger friendly place.
Waiting in the landside can be very boring due to the non existence of
shops there. Terminal 2ABCD are just not up to date to accommodate so
many passengers and flights. As previously suggested, in order to avoid
massive lines at the transit security desks, go out through immigration
at the arrival and take a short walk to your terminal of departure. That
will make your life easier especially at peak hours.
Paris CDG Airport review by J Kemp
21 November 2006
Nothing is either easy or pleasant about CDG, regardless of the terminal
you happen to be using. I am a frequent traveller based in Paris and
have no choice but to use this facility, and I must say that amongst the
major airhubs in the world, CDG is by any measure the worst. I have
written my critique of this facility in these columns before, and 6
years on, if anything, things have gotten worse. Check-in, particularly
in 2A/B/C/D is beyond chaotic, particularly at peak travel times. There
is literally not enough room to queue, and getting through security on
time is a virtual nightmare. There are no priority channels, and in any
event there are too few channels, period. In the terminal itself,
again regardless which one of the 7 terminals you may be in, seating is
poor, toilets tend to be filthy and few in number, and restaurants and
coffee shops definitely lacking. Staff tend to be unhelpful and
unpleasant, and give the impression that they could not care less,
whether they are selling a € 100 bottle of perfume or a packet of
chewing gum. Obtaining information can be very challenging, and if you
don't speak French, either buy a dictionary or pray. If you are
connecting in CDG, forget the dictionary, just pray! If you can avoid
CDG altogether, you'll be a happier person for doing so.
Paris CDG Airport review by L Thiry
17 October 2006
I often travel between Detroit and Paris, and I always dread the time I
must spend at CDG. Horrible is too kind of a word to describe this
place. Way too busy, poorly organized, dirty are words that describe it
well. Bathrooms tend to be dirty, and I have even experienced trying to
wash my hands in a bathroom that had no functioning running water. Very
inaccessible for elderly, physically challenged, or people travelling
with small children. Deplaning is done with the antiquated staircase
that hooks up to the plane. This is followed my a long, crowded, bumpy
bus ride. The convenience of having the TGV station right inside the
airport is a plus, but it too poses problems for those with mobility
problems, or those simply burdened with luggage. There is limited
elevator access down to the station level (I think there are only 4
elevators--not adequate during busy travel periods.). Your other choice
is to take escalators. Not easy with several large bags. Last time I
flew out of CDG they incorrectly posted the gate number for Detroit,
then neglected to inform the passengers. We had to ask several people,
and I think they changed our gate about 5 times before getting it
correct. I don't know who designed this place, but they certainly
neglected the architectural rule of form following function. The most
unfunctional passenger unfriendly airport I've seen--unfortunately it's
the only international airport in France, and it will continue to be an
unpleasant part of my life.
Paris CDG Airport review by Jochen Iwan
15 October 2006
I'm frequently using CDG as transit airport with AF for flights from
Zurich to Asian destinations. I flew 5 times this year via CDG and 3
times my luggage went lost. Even I got the luggage back within 1-2 days
later I cannot understand how this can be and how AF can offer to the
customers flights with 1 hour transit time only, When you have to change
the terminals, 2 hours would be the minimum time which is required to
pass the overloaded security checks and to drive with the packed transit
buses to your transit terminal. May be a useful hint to save time on
transit at CDG: Instead of queuing at the sometimes impossible long
lines at the security checks in the transit ways you can pass the
immigration and after the arrival hall you go up to the departure hall
where the queues are normally in an acceptable length.
Paris CDG Airport review by Martin Thomsin
30 September 2006
The worst airport terminal (2B) I have ever visited. Signage is
apalling, especially upon arrival where you haven't a clue where to go
to find immigration. The RER is not sign-posted until you are
practically at it and once you are there you can't buy a ticket at the
machines with notes or non-French credit cards (you only find that out
after queuing for 15 minutes.) You then join the enormous queue for the
ticket-office. To check-in you have to pass through passport control
first which could confuse many and I was refused entry without a hard
copy of my e-ticket. Just what is the point of an e-ticket one wonders.
And once you check in there are approx 10 seats for the entire
travelling public, unless you go straight through to the departure
lounge where there are no services. Total and utter chaos.
Paris CDG Airport review by Jeremy Irwin-Singer
27 September 2006
We were unlucky enough to travel through this airport on our way to
Madagascar. The flight in was fine, but that was where it ended.
Designed in the '60s and '70s, it has these so called "Satellites" which
contain the gates. This means walking distances are huge, signage is
difficult to read, the building is damp and is littered with rubbish.
The central circle of Terminal 1 has no room for expansion, so terminals
2 and 3 are miles away, by bus, which is infrequent and badly signed. We
ended up going around our plane twice. We only found out after we came
back that Terminal 2A is Terminal 2 Satellite A. This information would
have been helpful, but was nowhere to be seen. On our way back, we
missed our connection, due to the stupid busses. Again we travelled
around our plane, and even saw it leave. There were no toilets anywhere;
one couple with their infant son were forced to let him pea in a flower
pot, because there were no toilets in the departure gates! Finding a
restaurant was another problem, the food tasted foul, and was located
miles away from where the departure gates were. Terminal 1 (I think)
where the baggage reclaim is has stupid people movers which interweave
each other to get around the central dome, with zero signposts, so we
could not collect our baggage easily. We were relieved when we got back
to Heathrow, as it was a thousand times better. Avoid at all costs.
Paris CDG Airport review by Peter O'Brien
6 September 2006
CDG is under extensive renovation. You should give yourself at least 2
hours for connections. On a recent flight from PHL to Rome on AF with a
connection in CDG we missed the connection. Problem is that we parked
on the apron and were bused over to a transfer terminal and then
reboarded another bus to our terminal. As you can imagine the unloading
of full transatlantic flight takes time and the buses wait until they
are filled to bursting point. Other than that the airport is clean and
airy and I found the shops and amenities adequate.
Paris CDG Airport review by Brian Murphy
26 August 2006
Recently flew a number of times during the month of August through
Roissy CDG Terminal 2F. Thankfully the airport authorities appear at
last to be addressing some of the shortcomings previously posted on this
site. I was delighted to see that since August 1, 2006, smoking is now
forbidden in the cafes downstairs in 2F airside. In addition, another
recent addition is the placing of palm trees at the baggage arrivals
area and just outside in the main arrivals area. This small touch has
certainly taken the cold sting away from an otherwise dated and somewhat
chilly terminal in atmosphere. Hopefully, the authorities will now
continue to upgrade facilities in Terminal 2F and replace the tatty and
old carpets and seat upholstery, which are a disgrace. One final
comment for travellers in transit - if you are passing through security
to gates F41-F46, from a connecting terminal prepare for a huge wait.
The notice says 10 minutes - I spent closer to 30 minutes there
yesterday, until such time as Air France took some initiative and called
any passengers taking the Seoul and Dubai flights which were near final
boarding and were able to fast-track them through a dedicated security
line. Clearly, the airport needs to look carefully at this area of
congestion.
Paris CDG Airport review by Paul Browne
21 June 2006
Recently flew BA in and out of CDG T2B and was somewhat apprehensive
given the comments made here and on other message boards. Nothing could
have been further from the truth! We were at Baggage Claim within 2 mins
of walking off the aircraft and 5 mins after that we were outside
getting into the Shuttle. Very helpful BA staff in the Baggage area
organised our transportation too. On our return, checked in very quickly
using the check-in machines but despite it being the busiest time of the
day there was only one security guard on duty with 4 other unmanned
desks. This slowed us down a bit but we had a couple of hours to kill,
unfortunately in a mediocre Business Class longe shared by BA and AF.
All in all, our 2 experiences did not mirror the bad press we had read.
Paris CDG Airport review by Ron Kuhlmann
10 June 2006
I had a poor opinion of CDG from last year and found that, if anything,
I had been too kind in calling it horrible. Luggage claim for AA is a
tiny area, virtually filled with carts and allowing almost no movement
to retrieve bags or to exit once the bags are in hand. The corridors are
cramped and ziggzagging along compares unfavorably to a cheap video
game. Security and immigration on departure are exercises in contortions
as no less than 5 empty wheelchairs squeezed through against traffic
after delivering passengers to the gate. I find it incredible that they
have no egress except to barge through against the lines. I love Paris
and France but will avoid any more flights into, out of or through CDG.
Paris CDG Airport review by Bob Adamczyk
3 June 2006
I fly CDG at least 4-5 times a year. CDG is one of the busiest airports
in the world. If you compare it to JFK or LAX (especially as a non-
native speaker of English,try and find someone at JFK who speaks French,
Croatian or Farsi ! ). You just have to approach the people with the
right attitude, attempt to speak their language first, and act as if
they might be able to help you, but don't make unreasonable requests or
demands ! Terminal 2C was pretty crowded to depart from at midday in
the past, but now that Terminal 2E has been reopened, some of the
crowding has been reduced. I recently flew out of 2E on AF in April.
The terminal was large, spacious and not overcrowded. Decent, fresh
food was available at the boulangerie (not plastic-wrapped, 3 days old
like in the US). The Air France lounge for AF and Skyteam Elite was
large, spacious and had a good assortment of drinks, wines and
sandwiches, all complimentary. Until the 2E departure gate area is
reconstructed, passengers will still have to depart out of a temporary
area via bus and be shuttled to their flight. If you are connecting,:
don't consider it with less than a 2 hr connection.
Paris CDG Airport review by D Blomgren
24 May 2006
CDG Terminal 2E. The experience was close to inhumane. Passengers flying
Delta from Paris were herded onto a bus like standing cattle. Then the
bus pulls away from the "salon" and sits - this time for 40 minutes with
the ventilation system turned off - while other buses are loaded. We had
several elderly people nearly faint and the crowd started begging for
air and to be set free. The driver is separated from the crowd by a
glass window and does his best to ignore the passengers. The Delta
flight crew did its best to calm the enraged crowd - they've grown
accustomed to furious passengers boarding after the mistreatment on the
ground at CDG. United uses Terminal 1. Others do as well. If you are
traveling with elderly people or others who cannot easily climb many
stairs or stand in a crowded bus for about an hour, or who simply prefer
to breathe, we would recommend using those airlines and to avoid Delta
and Air France for trips to Paris. At least until terminal 2E is fixed
(which could be a year or so).
Paris CDG Airport review by Glyn Harbour
30 April 2006
ATH-CDG-BHX-CDG-ATH. Nothing very new to add to what has already been
said, but at least it helps confirm the views already expressed. We
had booked Air France through CDG when a neighbour told us that we had
made a big mistake, before retiring he had used CDG quite a lot and
hated it every time. A quick trawl on the net showed his views were
shared by others and of course we saw the views expressed on your site.
So we were at least able to prepare ourselves as much as possible and
since we were only changing from 2D to 2F and v.v. it was reasonably
straightforward (I would not like to have done it ‘cold’ though)
However we did meet the typical customer unfriendly Air France employee
babbling away in French and making it totally clear that she had no
intention of attempting to find our problem and help a little!! (OK it’s
France and my French is rusty but CDG is supposed to be an international
airport isn’t it?). We did later find another who was totally helpful
about booking a vegetarian meal on the return trip. We avoided the
toilets, saw the wonders of architecture which are totally
dysfunctional, on our return trip we discovered when we had gone through
security to airside that there was a 40 min delay – yes, of course no
shops there to speak of (why couldn’t it have been ‘broadcast’ a bit
sooner – we would not then have rushed through for what was a reasonably
tight connection). Not once did we get to use a walkway in CDG in the
manner intended, it was a bus on all 4 occasions to and from the
aircraft inbound and outbound – both BHX and ATH were the opposite of
course ! When we arrived from BHX on our homeward journey we had to
wait 10 minutes for a bus, when we were ready to depart CDG for ATH we
had to wait 5 minutes for a bus – it’s quite incredible. Then the only
really sour note about Air France – the pilot welcomed us on board and
quite clearly laid the blame for the delay on to LHR - passengers were
left in no doubt that it was nothing to do with Air France nor CDG but
totally due to ‘many delayed aircraft at LHR’ – grow up guys!! Like
your previous commentators, I will never choose to fly CDG again if
there is any suitable alternative. It is clearly the most dysfunctional,
dirty and unfriendly airport I have ever used.
Paris CDG Airport review by Brian Murphy
28 April 2006
Recently flew from 2F to Dubai on Air France. It is a real pity that an
excellent airline like Air France has to use such an awful airport like
Roissy. The carpets and seats in 2F need immediate replacement, as they
are torn, grubby and tatty. In addition, I do not understand why the
authorities continue to allow the smoking area down-stairs. As the
corridor is small, the smell of smoke diffuses to the so-called non-
smoking area! Furthermore, the condition of the toilets in all of
Roissy continues to be a problem. One just hopes that the airport
authorities take the time to read the comments, complaints and
suggestions on this site and take appropriate action. One final
comment, Priority Pass holders have no lounge access in 2F, to escape
the chaos and tattiness! Be warned!
Paris CDG Airport review by P Cotsapas
28 April 2006
I recently used CDG 1 for the first time. It gave me rather mixed
impressions - mostly negative. Passport control upon arrival was
terrible. There were only 2 booths open for a flight of 250 people.
Thank God ours was the only flight to arrive at Satellite 4, or else I
might have still been waiting in line. I must say that the way the
escalators are arranged in the middle of this donut shaped terminal are
quite cool. They are rather bumpy, though. Baggage claim went smoothly
enough. On departure, check-in was a mess. We were travelling as a
(rather international) group, which included a few Russians - and the
check-in assistants gave them hell. They were complaining that their
visas were not valid, and check-in was held up for 20 minutes while they
called the French embassy in Cyprus, from who they found out the visas
were valid. Again, passport control had only 1 person. I was lucky
enough to be near the front of the line, so I got through quite quickly.
When, half an hour later I had finished shopping (OK variety in the
stores) people from my group still hadn't come through passport control.
The sole snack bar for satellites 4 and 5 was way overpriced. Thank
goodness Paris (which was, of course, wonderful) was our destination
because transiting in CDG would give me a terrible impression of France,
which is, au contraire, one of the most beautiful countries in the
world.
Paris CDG Airport review by Dennis Roquand
22 April 2006
Connecting from terminal E to another terminal is a nightmare. Should
you have no more than one hour for your next flight, the airport will
make sure you spend all this time touring around the airport and miss
your flight. I travel from USA to Africa every six weeks and I rather
travel through London than going through CDG terminal 2E. When do they
intend to improve the situation ?
Paris CDG Airport review by Ian Corrigan
30 March 2006
CDG 1 is possibly the most dismal airport terminal ever conceived, I
simply cannot imagine that it ever was or ever will be anything other
than manky! The petrified pigeon still occupies the catch net in the
centre of the donut - before long it will be fossilised. The textured
finish of most of the concrete surfaces within the building should not
be touched at any cost, as you are likely to contract some new disease
(H5N1, Ebola, SARS possibly). The staff appear to derive some enjoyment
from misdirection of passengers, informing passengers of flight delays
at least 30 minutes after it has become obvious that the flight is
delayed and abandoning security points when there is a huge queue.
Passport control is manned on the basis that the more people there are
the fewer cutoms officers will deal with the situation. Until December
last year there was a half filled carrier bag of something or other on a
ledge above the tunnel to SAT1 - one can only assume that the sniffer
dogs can't get up that high. If it wasn't for the fact that one
occasionally has to use CDG 1, I think the best solution would be a 2
Kiloton bomb and simply start afresh. CDG 2 however is JUST AS BAD -
where can you get a decent meal? Why are most of the toilets more filthy
on the outside of the pan? How confusing can you make a terminal? The
management of CDG are very innovative in their creation of confusion.
Not just missing signs but all sorts of clever mismatches of numbering.
CDG 1 Hall 5, nowhere near 4 or 6. CDG 1 RER station actually next door
to CDG3. Navette 2 goes to CDG 3 or CDG1 RER. Whereas Navette 3 goes to
CDG 2 and so on. Arriving at CDG in a hire car - just try to find a
petrol station - the only one I could find after circumnavigating the
entire site was on the exit slip to the motorway - Doh! What's worse is
the place is growing, it's pseudo morphic expanses of grass and tarmac
are set to envelop most of northern france. On occasions it seems like
you are taxiing half way to your destination not fliying. Take it from
me do not expect to leave CDG without feeling depressed and angry.
Paris CDG Airport review by Tim Pithers
18 February 2006
I have just had the misfortune to once again travel from CDG. I used
terminal 2 for the first time last year, and was amazed how
dissapointing the facilities were in what is a stunning piece of
architecture. Cleanliness also left much to be desired. Terminal 1 is
even worse. The first problem is that signposting is extremely
confusing. Duty free shops and eating facilities are frequently
signposted in the wrong direction, so much so that after check-in and
passing onto the second level of the building, I had to exit through
Arrivals, descend two levels and start again just to find a café. Flying
from satellites 6 and 7 (primarly Lufthansa) mean that there are
absolutely no shopping or eating facilities once you've reached the
second level, aside from a tiny boutique and a tiny (extremely). Thus,
overpriced) café. Thus, one is resigned to using the 'Food Court' on the
basement level. This is truly disgusting. Most of the shops down here
are boarded up, leaVing just the pharmacy open. It's dark, dirty and
there's about 3 eating places with melamine furniture and stale smoke in
the air. The food is terribly overpriced and well up on French high
street prices. Sadly, for such an interesting and innovative piece of
architecture, terminal 1 at CDG is my least favourite place to travel
from and it's well worth trying to keep your time there to an absolute
minimum.
Paris CDG Airport review by John Oram
13 February 2006
CDG is a truly ghastly airport. Pieced together, it is disorienting,
poorly signed and of no help to the passenger whatsoever. Travelling
LHR-CDG-TUN-CDG-LHR over a few days I had at least the benefit of
changing planes within in 2F but I was one night at an airport hotel
during this process. Shuttle buses go round and round on the most
extraordinary routes often passing the same point twice or three times
at slightly different distances. Inside the terminal finding continuous
signs to the shuttle is a challenge. It appeared to me that the shuttle
was essentially free but that the Courtyard was seeing if it could
charge 5euro for it. It didn't seem to have the courage to try to
enforce this wholeheartedly. Things are bad from the inside of an
aeroplane, arriving or departing. Taxy routes are long and circuitous
and the selected runway always the farthest possible from the terminal.
Security was over-zealous; how can there be any justification for three
different people to check passport/boarding pass within 50m during the
process of entering the departure gates. We were delayed by a lightning
baggage handling strike whilst waiting to go to TUN. I would not hub
through CDG unless other factors made it highly attractive to do so.
Paris CDG Airport review by Kevin Leung
31 January 2006
Arrived in Terminal 2A from YYZ with Air Canada. Definitely this is an
airport should be avoided at all time. Immigration line up was horribly
long with only four officers for more than a thousand passengers (At the
same time, two ACs, one CO and one AA arrival). Baggage area was a
joke, four flights sharing a single baggage area. The arrival hall was
poorly signed and the terminal map was useless. Try to find Air France
shuttle to the city, bus stop is not a bus stop, the traffic at the pick
up area just a mess like in third world countries. Later, got a chance
to use T3 for LCC with Air Berlin. The terminal was extremely far away.
The inter-terminal shuttle from T1 and 2 took more than half an hour to
reach T3. Interior was warehouse-looking, but I like T3 more because it
is simple and clean! Caution!! Be aware if you have a transit with T1 or
T2 arrival but depart in T3 or vice versa, reserve minimum 3 hours!
Paris CDG Airport review by Barry Byrne
29 January 2006
The concrete donut that is CDG 1 has been in renovation for a long time
so it is nice to be able to report that some new check in facilities are
now in use there. Described as "Check in Hall 5" , it will not astound
any of our regular users of CDG, that it is not to be found between
"Halls 4 & 6" at all (actually these are aisles, not halls). That is
where most passengers might reasonably imagine it to be found, or infer
from the counting skills they learn in preschool, or expect in other
airports. Being CDG, 5 is on an entirely differing and lower floor than
halls 4 & 6 are and the easiest way to find it is to seek out the
McDonalds, as it is close by. Perhaps "Check in Hall X" rather than Hall
5 might have helped make the point about this being in a different
place, on a different floor to persons who do not work for ADP.
Of course, being CDG it is not marked as Hall 5 even when you get there
either and the most recent issue of the ADP magazine, on free offer at
CDG, does not show it, at all, in their new map. To accomodate this
space, the "Boutiques" that once were on this level have largely
vanished now, leaving a small News and Magazine Shop, a Pharmacy and a
Post Office. A further shop is to open there run by Casino "shortly".
Paris CDG Airport review by J Hall
18 January 2006
Arrived in CDG 2F from LHR for a connection to JNB and I must say that
from being in that terminal you wouldn't have a clue about how bad the
rest of the airport is. The transfer was very quick and easy with a very
short walk; 2F is an amazing building with a fantastic roof. Great shops
and restaurants, and was all very clean. Everything was quick and easy
and overall we were very impressed!
Paris CDG Airport review by Bert Stauffen
15 January 2006
I live in Paris and make around 60 flights out of Paris per year (mostly
within Europe). CDG1: to be avoided - "space age" 70s design, has
withstood passage of time badly; lets hope that current refurbishment
will improve things - it will, however, not improve the long ways to
walk (with automatic walkways often out of order) and the bizarre
overall lay-out of this terminal. CDG 2A and B: in need of
refurbishment. CDG 2D: overall OK, good Air France lounge (although
overcrowded in peak hours). CDG 2F: I like the design/architecture,
overall a very agreeable terminal - long queues tend to build up at
security in peak hours (up to 20 mins to get through security on Monday
mornings), causing delays. CDG 2E: again the architecture is
spectacular; I really like this terminal - unfortunately part of the
roof caved in in 2004 and the terminal is currently being
repaired/rebuilt - to be avoided during the rebuilding phase; all
boarding is by bus from a makeshift departure hall. Connecting within
Terminal 2 is OK (although it is a very long walk from 2 A or B to 2 E
or F); connecting between terminal 1 and 2 is a nightmare (only by bus
with interminable stops on the way). Another problem, share by all big
airports, are interminable taxi times (sometimes 12/20 minutes).
Paris CDG Airport review by Pierre Fabre
6 January 2006
I'm French, born in Paris and still living there and am ashamed by
Paris airports, specially CDG. None of the terminals has been designed
for the convenience of passengers, connecting ground transports are very
poorly indicated, you won't find any of them without asking your way and
where exactly to wait. Because of the anti terrorist plan it is more
than 10 years that all luggage deposits have been closed so there is
absolutely no possibility to leave your luggage at the airport if you
are making only a day stop an would like to go in town for a few hours.
Paris CDG terminals have been designed by renowned architects, but none
offers enough space for moving around with your trolleys, and queues
spread all across the halls. Those stupid architects only thought about
the so-called elegance of the outside of the buildings, they built the
most recent terminals as original light elongated fluid concrete
structures instead of simple efficient and sturdy ones, the result being
the collapsing of a part of the terminal, where 2 passengers were
killed. Millions are being spent to rebuild and reinforce this wing.
CDG 1 is possibly the worst airport I know. It is supposed to be
renovated but I wonder if this will solve any of the problems inherent
to its most stupid and completely outdated design. Think about it -
cars which need to park have to climb up to the 6th floor to exit
through the parking gates; and of course then they have to go 6 floors
down. Luggage coming out from the plane at ground level is sent
underground before going up to the second floor where you collect it.
What a clever way to waste energy and make sure you'll wait for it long
enough fighting with the smokers that will inevitably light a cigarette
at this point. The round shape of the building will ensure that you'll
walk around for ages not knowing where you are; since there is no
beginning and no end to a round building, you'll have to rely solely on
numbers in order to find your check in desk, and you'll never be able to
find out which is the shortest way to get there, around to the let or to
the right? across through the middle? . Same thing when you need to find
an elevator, the toilets (terrible), a shop in the duty free or a
shuttle bus stop. Oversized luggage cannot go on the climbing belts so
it arrives at least 30 minutes later on a cart, though an elevator, that
is if it doesnt get stuck or simply forgotten in the elevator (my record
must be an extra hour and a half of waiting to get my oversized bags!)
Whichever terminal you go through, there is always much queuing through
customs because there isn't enough staff.
Paris CDG Airport review by Srimanikandhan Appunni
2 January 2006
Arrived at CDG on Delta 16 from JFK to MAA via CDG. Even though a
continuing passenger on the same flight was taken on a bus for 15 min
ride to some terminal and was then put thru security and asked to take
Another bus back to the terminal where I go off the plane earlier for
another 15 min ride. Do the people at CDG know what airbridges are ? The
staff at the main terminal were rude and unhelpful. Avoid CDG at any
cost if you can.
Paris CDG Airport review by Isabel Green
14 December 2005
CDG 1, a terrible place. I think the word baggage is universal but
nobody understood me when asking where to find my bags. Signs are rare,
staff are rude, the place is filthy, very inconvenient, and don't even
try to connect through CDG. If you do, allow hours ahead of you or might
not get your connecting flight, and if you do miss you flight nobody
will help you! Terminal 3 is OK but you're likely to be delayed!
Paris CDG Airport review by Andrew Mortimer
11 December 2005
CDG is terrible and we had the added bonus of a bomb scare. Check in a
complete shambles, cluttered and spaces blocked off resulting in a 20
minute walk to be able to get to the inside of the circle to get rid of
our bags. Anywhere else using a hub and spoke terminal at least lets you
enter from the circumference. No facilities at gate and a quality
airline like Emirates, who I flew, must wonder what they have done to
get such appalling ground service. Fly into anywhere else and take the
train to Paris.
Paris CDG Airport review by Ramón Fretz
30 November 2005
Arrived unexpectedly at Terminal 2A of CDG from Montreal (normally 2F) -
what a chaos! CDG is a mess and 2A beats all other terminals I have
transited through at this airport. It seems as if the architects of this
airport only had "beauty" in mind but certainly not functionality.
Passengers coming from all directions queuing up for immigration. Bad
signs, slow control, queues in all directions, blocking access to all
others. Once you have survived that, try to get your baggage. It's like
going into a cul-de-sac for baggage retrieval from the belt. Everybody
rushed to the head of the delivery belt just to find out that their are
caught between the baggage system and the other passengers standing
behind them with their carts waiting for their bags to be delivered too.
A real nightmare. It took me over an hour to get the bags. Avoid 2A at
all costs!
Paris CDG Airport review by Jorg Ludewig
16 November 2005
Try to avoid CDG when you can. Hardly anyone I know that travelled thru CDG lost at least one piece
of luggage. I took a family trip from FRA via CDG to Biarritz on Air France. Upon arrival in
Biarritz, two out of three bags were missing. they were still in Paris besides an almost 2hr layover
in CDG and came one day later. On our return flight, we checked in again three bags plus a stroller
with final destination FRA. Our departure in Biarritz got delayed and once we landed in CDG we only
had about 45min left for transfer. The plane then did not stop at a bridge, but on the field and it
took CDG ground personnel about 10 minutes to provide stairs to get out of the plane. When I walked
to a bus, a ground staff member handed me our stroller, though it was checked thru to Frankfurt and
said so on the label. He would not take it back, so we took it with us on the bus. Once we were at
the terminal, we had about 20 minutes left only. We ran like crazy, snaked thru long lines at
security check and actually made it as last passenger to our FRA connection. We sat down to hear the
pilot saying that there will be a delay due to some missing luggage. We thought this would for sure
be our bags they are waiting for, but wrong. Once landed in Frankfurt, none of the three bags showed
up and were only delivery the day after. I can only recommend to either not use CDG or in case you
have, limit yourself to carry on. The whole system there is a big black hole. A friend that is in
the freight business actually says the same about shipping airfreight to CDG: makes you sweat and
wonder if it will ever make it thru there.
Paris CDG Airport review by Dave Jaros
8 November 2005
Must confirm the previous few "bus station" comments here. Used CDG
first time on Nov-05, arriving early morning to T3. Despite "low cost"
terminal, I have expected at least FEW air bridges, but what I have
experienced was a pure sightseeing. After landing, the plane has slowly
approached the area, which took about 15 (!) minutes to park just in a
front of the terminal (some 50 meters away), then bussed around the
amazing waiting hall full of cement panels. Luckily, the passport
control was breeze, although only 2 out of 8 counters were open, quick
baggage claim (last person left the carrousel some 20 mins after landing
- but there was only one more arrival at the terminal at the same time).
Very poor (not only) arrival hall by all means, so I was happy not to
transit there - anyway, you have to walk out the building and enter the
departures some 100 yards further towards the railway ( I am young and
like walking and with only hand baggage, is it okay, but cannot imagine
pax with suitcases crossing the two line street before train station-
you may not take trolleys from terminal to the train). It was really not
possible to build the walkway in the underground with jetways ?? I would
welcome that on my return Nov-06 evening, when the RER from Gare du Nord
arrived delayed (some 8 mins) and I had to RUN through the poorly
signposted (or rather lighted) rain station to the terminal just to
catch the check-in. The most horrendous moment was when entering the
departure hall, there was NO DISPLAY BOARD with counter allocation !!! I
got nearly crazy when running around the hall watching the small
displays at counters to find out which one is the mine. The only
positive point is the 30 minutes rule, which saved me a flight (but lost
nearly this advantage due to the unnecessary search). Cannot imagine the
peak hours and hords moving around the T3... Just after security, I was
looking for some food, but the only option found was a crowded self
service buffet with exorbitant prices (coke/soft 3 E, sandwich 4,50E
etc). Shopping possibilities are limited (2 delicates, 1 clothes, 2
perfumeries), as well as the toilets. Also, all seats in the waiting
hall were seated, the only view is to shuttle busses. My flight has been
announced "on time" some 30 mins before departure, but the flight
control must have known already, there will be at least 30 mins delay
due to incoming turnover flight. But were announced just at the
scheduled time for 10 mins delay - the first at last info for pax, but
they knew the plane was not airside yet. After another 10 mins, were
loaded into bus, but kept with open doors another 10 mins (how do they
it during freezing period??) and bussed the 50 (!) meters distance for
another 10 mins (the tarmac sightseeing again). So definitely, if you
are changing at CDG, for more facilities use the T1 and 2 and be
prepared for time consuming and confusing transfers.
Paris CDG Airport review by Grant Benedict
6 November 2005
In the first ten days of September this year (2005) I was unfortunate
enough to travel through CDG airport not once, but twice - having to
change planes each time. My first mistake was allowing for a 55 minute
layover between flights, the first time through. I requested a longer
layover but was told by Air France that "45 minutes is a legal layover"
and was denied. So we landed at dawn and were deposited on the tarmac
which allowed us a view of the terminal through a chain link fence.
Eventually a bus arrived and packed us on like refugees before driving
in a huge circle to deposit us on the other side of the fence where
there was access to the "A" terminal. Once in that terminal we had to
catch ANOTHER bus to the terminal from which we were to depart - this
was a 15-minute wait, then about a 10-minute ride through a maze of
circles, concrete walls, tunnels and fences. We arrived at "E" terminal
just in time to see that boarding for our departing flight was closed.
We approached an Air France information desk and were told to go to the
'ticketing' desk. We did, and stood in line for more than 30-minutes
while the two agents at the desk argued with two people. Eventually
another agent appeared and got the line moving. When we got to her, she
looked at our tickets and said no, we needed to go to the 'transfer'
desk. So we went there - and found a line of about 100 people, all of
whom had missed flights, near as we could figure out. We moved slowly
along for about another 40 minutes before arriving at a window where we
were told that the next flight out was less than two hours away so we
couldn't get on that one (you must be in the terminal two hours prior to
flight departure and it didn't matter that we had already been there two
hours) and the next one was booked solid, so we were scheduled for
another flight - five hours away. We made that flight, after sitting on
the floor for several hours, since there were no chairs in the waiting
area. On the way back, we had a layover of 1:20 - We again were
deposited on the tarmac and had to wait around for about 15 minutes for
a bus which drove us around for about 10 minutes before arriving at the
terminal where we were to change buses. Thank God we were at the head
of that line! Before the right bus arrived a nervous horde had packed
in behind us, with many of them waving tickets and saying things like
"My plane is at 9:30!" (it was 9:25) while the girl responsible for
keeping us in line just looked at them and shrugged her shoulders.
Finally the bus arrived and again we packed on like refugees. The bus
stopped several times en route through the maze of fences, tunnels and
airplanes, eventually arriving at our departure terminal. Once inside
we literally RAN to gate 75 - down stairs, up stairs, around corners -
and arrived at the gate with mere minutes to spare.
Paris CDG Airport review by J D Kemp
6 November 2005
This is a bus station, not an airport. Flying from CDG to ORD departing
from Terminal E: 1st class check-in took an hour because of issues with
the baggage system. I then had to transit by bus from Terminal E, which
is still technically closed due to the roof collapse. The bus ride was
interminable, and the amount of vehicular traffic on the various tarmacs
was astounding. It really was bumper to bumper. The bus driver spoke
on his mobile phone the entire time (!), impervious to repeated pleas by
passengers to turn off the heating on board. After 15 minutes in the
steam bath on wheels, we disembarked, bathed in sweat, at the temporary
facility. Because this process had taken so long, passengers literally
walked off the bus and into the queue to board the aircraft. There was
no time for freshening up, shopping, nothing. Finally, boarding was
accomplished by a walk across the tarmac to the waiting aircraft, which
was accessible only by a very steep staircase. Physically challenged
passengers and the elderly were really put to the test. CDG has got to
be one of the most unpleasant airports, and one is better off avoiding
it if possible.
Paris CDG Airport review by John Maley
29 October 2005
The biggest bus station in the world. You spend more time on buses than
anywhere else. I flew business on Delta and after 12 hours of
travelling was sent to a lounge that has no showers - this was after I
tried to get into another lounge, so they did not bother to think that a
transit passenger might want to shower. Ask if your lounge has a shower
if you want to use one - don't assume that in one of the worlds most
modern airports this would be standard. Overall now I know why others
told me to avoid it.
Paris CDG Airport review by Bill Mountain
28 October 2005
RE Maggy Simms comment: To ensure a trouble free transit from T1 or T3
at Paris CDG follow these tips. From T1 there is a bus that takes you to
the transit area. If you arrive at CDG T3 you can easily (5mins) walk to
the main bus and RER train station, It's all on one level with no steps.
If taking the RER make sure to get 10 euro in coins in change so that
you can feed the ticket machines at the CDG T1 station for your ticket
as the queues are horrendous at the ticket booth and the machines do not
accept foreign cards (god alone knows why, as my french card works in
london on the tube) and check the monitors at the RER station to make
sure that you take a train with no stops until the Gare du Nord, thus
avoiding undesirable travellers that might join in the suburbs. You will
then have a bother free transit into town. You can then get a metro to
your destination, and do not need to bother with the cabs here.
Paris CDG Airport review by Jacques Dang
24 October 2005
Lynne Reid's comments on CDG are accurate but apply only to Terminal 1.
The RER suburban train actually arrives at the center of Terminal 2, at
the same location as the TGV high speed trains.
Paris CDG Airport review by Sascha Menzendorf
23 October 2005
As it was my first experience with this airport, I was quite exited to
fly via Paris on my way from Berlin to Dubai last week. The airport
terminals seem to be quite new. However, they are totally crowded. The
airport in general was pretty dirty, filthy and noisy. Smokers corners
everywhere and absolutely no chance to find an empty seat to wait for
boarding. The terminal I was waiting in for my flight to Dubai was by
far to small for the passenger traffic. Finally, the computer systems
for the boarding procedure were not working properly so the boarding
took about 1 hour. Due to the lack of space the queue crossed the
boarding queue of the flight to Toronto next to our gate so the chaos
was complete. I have to agree with the previous comments: CDG is pretty
much outdated. The facilities are in bad condition and partly
inappropriate.
Paris CDG Airport review by Antonio Teixeira
23 October 2005
Flight from Porto (Portugal) to Prague (Czech Republic) via Paris CDG.
Transfer between terminals 2D and 2B was easy, although the signs can
sometimes mislead you. But you will quickly discover if you're going the
wrong way. Terminal 2 is clean, has lots of shops and employees are
very helpful and friendly (Air France and shops). Long queues at the Air
France transfer desk, but you won't need to go there if you already have
a boarding pass to your connection flight. Everything seemed accessible,
although I didn't have an opportunity to see the other terminals or to
use the airport buses. All went well and I hope you can also have a
pleasant stay at CDG.
Paris CDG Airport review by Lynne Reid
21 October 2005
It is hard to believe that CDG is the main airport for such a wonderful city as Paris. It's badly
organised and has very poor facilities. Fortunately I had booked a car on arrival, but I returned
via RER from Gare du Nord. The line is signed CDG but on arrival you have to take a bus to the
terminal. In our case terminal 1. What a sad place. The few facilities available - small duty free,
small gourmet food section, panoramic restaurant (where the restaurant was closed at 6.00 pm so only
cold pre-prepared bar snacks) are before the very long winded security check to enter the gate area.
Allow at least 45 minutes for this. Then when you get through you discover there are no toilets, let
alone shops etc so you have to go out and back through the security!! Certainly no smoking!! If you
have to travel from England to Paris take the Eurostar direct to the centre, its so much more
civilised. I will never willingly do this journey any other way.
Paris CDG Airport review by Michael R Preston
9 October 2005
Connecting between terminals is a nightmare, with inadequate and
confusing signage, which appears more directed towards getting
passengers into areas where they will spend money than in helping to
ease transits. I transited CDG from a BA flight onto an SAA flight, so
from terminal 2B to terminal 1. Because my inbound flight was delayed
45 minutes and I had to fetch my suitcase for the transit (not the fault
of the airport authorities), I was on a very tight time scale. My
luggage took over 30 minutes to arrive and I had less than 10 to get to
terminal 1. The transfer buses were nowhere to be seen and a taxi
driver wanted 50 Euros to take me - as I was desperate I got into
the taxi and got him down to 30 - still daylight robbery for a 5 minute
ride. This airport, and particularly the scruffy and distant terminal 1
from which the SAA flight leaves, at the same time as a flight to
Beijing, making the satellite very crowded, is the main reason I
would try to avoid transiting here.
Paris CDG Airport review by Kim Gammelgĺrd
9 October 2005
I came in and out of CDG last week. Flying in some terminal 2 and out of
2D. Going in was okay, getting my suitcase immediately after landing.
Getting a ticket to the RER to go to the center is a total joke. I
cannot imagine how a country with that amount of pride can
offer such poor service. The lines for the counter were enormous and the
ticket machines only took about half of the credit cards that I saw
people using. It did not take my Danish Visa/Dankort, so I had to buy a
magazine in a shop to get coins (8€) instead. Going out, I came 1,5 hrs
before planned liftoff and was faced by a queue that took me an hour to
get through. I didn't spend any money at the shops as planned because of
this. It turned out that they were doing the boarding cards semi-
automatically and had to look through a paper list for each
passenger. The list was not sorted properly - who would ever have
thought of that - so for each passenger, the woman had to go through the
whole list of about 100 passengers to find the name. If
she was taking ca. 1/3 of the flight it means that just spending time
looking for their names would take her 20 minutes extra because of the
incompetency of the system that made her the list. This delayed the
flight by half an hour. When I got my boarding pass at
11.45, the boarding time was given to 11:35 and there were still a long
long queue behind me. Security was reasonably manned and
very fast. Going to the plane, CGD had a lady making sure that there was
no queue of people in front of the plane, so every one who tried just to
get out of the bus and go to the plane before it was his or her time was
stopped and made clear who was in charge here. I wonder how they can
afford to pay people doing those silly jobs, and why they don't use them
at the desk where they are needed instead.
Paris CDG Airport review by Ron Kuhlmann
9 October 2005
Our experience was in line with the others outlined. On arrival, the bag
claim was chaos - I finally just stood back and waited for the crowd to
clear as both the space and facilities were horribly inadequate. Far
worse than many third world airports. Signage was confusing and moving
to the TGV terminal took a very long time as the walkways were narrow
and congested. While I love Paris, this is not a pleasant introduction.
Perhaps the best solution is for the whole thing to collapse and provide
a clean slate.
Paris CDG Airport review by Maggy Simms
13 September 2005
Regarding CDG T3 - you need to know this if you are on a weekend from
Liverpool John Lennon with easyjet. Or maybe you just need to know it
anyway: point is, T3 is completely out of the way of public transport
links. The whole of CDG is bathed in utter chaos and even if you speak
french it ain't easy to sort your way thru. the signage is tasteful, but
utterly unhelpful. The Disneyland Bus picks up at T3 all other public
transport goes from T2. You cannot walk from T3 to T2 - you must get
the shuttle bus. This is 'ligne 5' and to get it, walk down the covered
path that goes under the road - it is signed for T1 and T2, and leads
into a bus station. In that station get the free shuttle bus to T2 and
get off at stop T2 C or D - it's exact drop-off point depends on how
manic the traffic is. Then get the Air France bus, No2 will drop you at
the arc de triomphe from where you can get the metro anywhere. It costs
12 euro at the time of writing.
Paris CDG Airport review by Sylvia Tomlin
29 August 2005
I arrived at Charles De Gaulle on June 22, 2005. I had booked a hotel near the
airport to rest for the day and start sightseeing the next day. None of the taxi
drivers in the taxi line would take my grandson and I to the Holiday Inn
Bourget/Garonor. They simply refused. We had to take a shuttle to another Holiday
Inn and from there the called us a taxi at a inflated rate. The taxi companies needs
to be monitored more closely. I will try to avoid this airport in the future.
Paris CDG Airport review by Dermot Cairns
23 August 2005
Arrived at CDG on Sun Aug 21 from Rio on Air France and was connecting on AF to
Heathrow. What a disaster! The aircraft was parked on a remote stand and we were coached to the
terminal, which took forever because of the sheer volume of coach, baggage and contractors vehicles. This
was made worse by 3 Immigration officers stopping everybody as they got off each coach to check
passports. I deplaned at 09.00 and wasn't inside the terminal until 10.05
I then had a further coach ride to Terminal 2F for my connecting flight.
This is not a good airport to transit - Schiphol is a million miles better and I will
avoid CDG like the plague in future.
Paris CDG Airport review by Helen Anderson
29 July 2005
CDG Terminal 2B was not the perfect end to a hard earned holiday.
The toilet facilities were the worst I have encountered. There is an
inadequate supply of seating and the departure lounge was dreadful. Not
really what I had expected from France's capital city. My overall
opinion is that this airport should be avoided if possible.
Paris CDG Airport review by Jack Yan
25 July 2005
A pretty confusing place, but helped with maps; once oriented into the French
"rhythm" it is not as bad. If you want to get VAT refunds, forget it: queues are
excessive. Rental car pick-up is not that much better, even for a Francophone such as
myself. Drop-off areas can be so overrun with vehicles that some will park on the
only lane left for traffic. Passport control staff are consistently unsure of the
status of a British National (Overseas) passport, even though I was told by the
French Embassy that it would have the status of a regular British one prior to
departure. I always carry a New Zealand one as a back-up, which at least permitted me
to stay as a short-term tourist. Despite being a Francophile, I have to admit this is
one of the less well organized airports. It has some charm; the prices of food are
higher but not exorbitantly so (any tourist areas in Paris will be the same). But it
pains me to say that it is easier connecting internationally via a German airport.
You lose the charm but you also lose the frustration.
Paris CDG Airport review by W Pierson
21 July 2005
I have flown out of CDG twice in recent months, both times on trips home to the US.
This airport is completely inadequate for the current high volume travel it is trying
to handle. Once inside the international Air France departures (terminal C) there
are insufficient bathroom facilities, the line for women was 30 people long, for men
it was about 20 people long. Your passport and boarding pass is checked four times
before you get to the departure gate. But on my most recent departure, two people
(when they needed about 8) slowly rechecked every passport and boarding pass for an
entire, full Air France 747. Despite starting boarding on time, the flight was
delayed nearly an hour because of this fifth and final check of passports/boarding
passes. Air France was apologetic, but the airport must supply sufficient security
personnel to allow flights to depart on time.
Paris CDG Airport review by Florent Masse
13 July 2005
As a French citizen, I understand the frustration of international passengers
arriving at CDG. I very frequently travel between New York and Lille and am often
ashamed at the organization at the TGV and RER stations ! My advice to foreign
travellers: if you want to connect to Paris Center, use the Air France coaches -
price is pretty much the same as the RER and the ride is much more enjoyable.
However, if you use the Air France coaches, try to avoid rush hours. Second advice:
if your final destination is a French city served by TGV from CDG - try to book your
train ticket in advance as an air ticket leg through TGV AIR (Air France,
Continental, and many more airlines provide that service). This would really save you
some time, as you will only need to claim your train ticket in exchange of your air
coupon at the dedicated TGV AIR desk in the TGV ticket desks. The whole process takes
one minute and is much better than standing in line, exhausted, at the TGV ticket
desks where very few employees are indeed working... especially in the summer. And
yes ! what a shame that foreigners cannot use their credit cards to purchase train
and RER tickets ! CDG still has a long way to go.
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