PARIS CDG AIRPORT   Passenger Reviews and Customer opinions

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  23 January 2010 by Mark Scarton   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Will never connect through CDG again. Period. Worst airport that I've ever had to transit. To connect from in inside EU to a long haul (2D->2E), I had to exit customs, run like a maniac through the entire interior of terminal 2 and through the masses of people, then go through security and customs again. The distain of the staff and their lack of empathy was astounding.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  19 January 2010 by R Skopac   (Croatia)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Terminal 1 is screaming for refurbishment and renovation, and also for a good cleaning. People, at least cleaning doesn't cost much! Recently flew LH. Displays in gate zone 60-68 didn't work at all and as we didn't have gate number written on our boarding passes, we were running from gate to gate to see where we would be boarding. Finally boarding started without any announcement - total confusion! Main gate to Paris / France should look a bit better!

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  24 December 2009 by M McReynolds   (USA)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I had a connecting flight to Chicago this week through CDG and was stunned at how difficult it is to navigate your way through it. I couldn't even find a 'You are here' map of the airport anywhere to determine where I was and where I needed to go. Will never fly through Paris again.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  21 December 2009 by J Sheppard   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Departed from Terminal 1 which is used by Singapore Airlines and Star Alliance. The check in was very inefficient with a long line for economy passengers while business and first class counters were empty. Other airports tend to usher economy passengers one-by-one to first/business counters to speed up check-in; but not at CDG. Nor was there a separate line for those that using internet check in which defeats the purpose of this service if you ask me. When I did not immediately drop off bags because need to get tax refund, I found myself having to line up from start again to drop off my bags (another 15 minutes). The contracted airport service staff managing the lines of passengers were not professional. When coming back to drop off my bags (after going to duty fee counter) they tore off my luggage tag and threw it away as I told them not to do so and leaving me to explain to the check in staff that I had already checked in. Even then the check-in staff were too busy having their own conversation with one another without excusing themselves; even shouting to get attention of colleagues 10-15 meters away. When it appeared the vegetarian meal I had requested was not in the system they told me that this was my fault rather than assuring me that they would do their best to try and sort it out. The line for the security check at the gate was incredibly long with little thought of how to organise this for four flights that were departing within 60 minutes of one another - one of which was an A380. There was no separate line for first/business/priority passengers who had to line up with everyone else. Once through security there the waiting lounge was not clean and there were very few power points/sockets for anyone wanting to use a laptop.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  8 December 2009 by Harvey Marcovitch   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I would advise against using this airport for connecting flights unless there is at least 90 minutes between expected arrival and departure times. We booked a flight with Air France from Florence to Birmingham (UK) via Paris CDG. Our plane landed on time, taxied for a very long time before depositing us at Terminal 2G. With 45 minutes available it was a frantic race, through the terminal, onto a transfer bus for a circuitous journey to 2E, long walk to Customs, had to barge to front of queue for security and then run to gate. Even so, arrived after the transfer bus had left with staff calling for us on the announcement system. They laid on an extra bus so we just made it. Our luggage did not, despite the second leg of the flight leaving from about 100 metres from the arriving aircraft. No apologies from anyone. A total don't care attitude.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  8 December 2009 by Harvey Marcovitch   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I would advise against using this airport for connecting flights unless there is at least 90 minutes between expected arrival and departure times. We booked a flight with Air France from Florence to Birmingham (UK) via Paris CDG. Our plane landed on time, taxied for a very long time before depositing us at Terminal 2G. With 45 minutes available it was a frantic race, through the terminal, onto a transfer bus for a circuitous journey to 2E, long walk to Customs, had to barge to front of queue for security and then run to gate. Even so, arrived after the transfer bus had left with staff calling for us on the announcement system. They laid on an extra bus so we just made it. Our luggage did not, despite the second leg of the flight leaving from about 100 metres from the arriving aircraft. No apologies from anyone. A total don't care attitude.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  8 December 2009 by M Mussig   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Quite possibly the most inefficient airport. 2hrs 46 mins to get off a flight in one terminal, collect luggage, get to another terminal, and then check in again. I did not dawdle and I knew where I was going having already dealt with the pain of transit here before. This airport is the gateway to a beautiful city and a magnificent country, however if first impressions meant anything nobody would ever visit France or Paris. My advice is that if you can get in to France another way, do it - if you can transit via another airport, do it. I suspect that one of the few reasons that CDG is still in business (along with Air France) is their monopoly on many routes in and out of Africa - both would lose a big chunk of their business if there were any alternative. There is nothing in the entire airport which even comes close to being average - it's all "below average" or worse.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  23 November 2009 by J Lopez   (Spain)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Dreadful place. Arrived with 90 minutes before the flight departure to terminal 2F. checked in at the Air France check in machines but delivery of baggage required long queuing (even worse than manual check in!) to the point that by my boarding time I was still queuing to deliver my luggage!. when they asked for passengers on my flight to identify themselves we were moved to a "priority" queue which was even slower than the normal queue I was in!!! Going trough security was even worse. only one small security station operational with just 2 screening machines. Massive queue. Very unpleasant security staff did not mind at all that I was about to miss my flight and forced me to queue anyway. I was lucky that my flight was delayed, otherwise would have missed it. And nobody really cared.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  8 November 2009 by Marc Ventabre   (France)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Paris CDG is certainly not the worst airport in term of comfort and services but it is well below western standards you might expect for a major tourist destination like Paris. Two dark points - immigration control and the usually unpleasant staff working at the airport. Avoid the Terminal 1 (the oldest one) - interesting architecture but dreadful for the rest. The newest Terminal F is better but still below average compared to the high standards in Asia or Northern America. The only good thing about Paris CDG is when you leave the airport Paris is still a beautiful city. Such a shame that the entry of France look like such a mess.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  5 November 2009 by A Mishra   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Extremely disappointing airport, the waiting lounges do not have decent catering facilities for long haul passengers. There is a small cafe bar with a very limited choice and no decent hot food. I was travelling with family from Singapore to the UK via Paris, and was horrified at the lack of proper facilities at this central hub. This was especially relevant as the food on board the flight was rather sparse. Travelling from one terminal to another can be a nightmare, especially id you are short of time. Given that AF and KLM are the same company, CDG is no comparison with Schiphol. Even the smaller airports in the UK have far better facilities.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  26 October 2009 by R Wyatt   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Terminal 1 may have some new check in counters, but rest of the terminal remains a disgrace. Long, long queues for immigration and security, and cleanliness / condition of gate areas and toilets is terrible. Shopping facilities are also useless for everyday things, and szeems only targeted at luxury items. Terminal 2 might have improved, but this terminal 1 is simply below any acceptable standards.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  26 October 2009 by P Vogel   (USA)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Now the new international terminal is finished and open after the unfortunate collapse several years ago, CDG is significantly improved, at least for departing AF long haul flights. The new terminal 2E is spacious and efficient (check in was a breeze) with nice business and first class lounges (for AF passengers) and a duty free mall that is as good as Gallerie Lafayette, with Hermes, Maison du Chocolate, Rolex, Fouchan, Hugo Boss, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Fine wines and spirits, Prada, and many others. CDG is still an awkward airport, but the long haul arrival and departure experience is vastly improved, at least for Air France customers. Finally the temporary tents are gone, and you can actually board at a gate rather than taking a bus for several miles to get to the aircraft. Now if they can redo the older, crowded, and dirty terminals, then we might have a world class airport.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  22 October 2009 by Nick Biskinis   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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CDG appears to be getting even worse. I was flying out of Terminal 2E to LHR. I've always found 2E and 2F to be the 'good terminals' of CDG. It took nearly an hour to get through passport control, because out of the 16 booths, only 3 were functioning, and this was in the afternoon when many Air France flights are departing. After this came the slow security check again with most of the machinery out of action. It is disappointing that even the only decent terminals at CDG no longer are efficient at processing passengers. Time to privatise ADP or break up its monopoly and allow other operators to take over the running of the Terminals. Paris as an area is heavily investing in its transport (Metro and Rail), it is a pity that such an important city and hub is let down by its main airport.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  8 October 2009 by A Baxter   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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This is easily the worst run and the least customer-oriented airport I have flown through. On a recent trip to Europe we had an unavoidable connection through Paris. The layover was 2 hours - enough you'd think to comfortably transfer from one terminal to the other. Not so! It took every minute to get from the arriving airplane to 2F and ultimately to the gate at 2E. Simple steps like disembarking passengers and loading us onto buses that go to our onward terminal might be a better idea than shuttling us all to 2F where most of us don't need to go. Another inexplicable roadblock is reprocessing all onward passengers through another security check, despite never having left the secure area. To pile on to the frustration, passengers who have made it through security and are about to dash off to their next flight are randomly pulled from the line for yet another spot check. To add further insult to injury, they post airline personnel along the route to your gate, admonishing you to hurry! My advice to anyone traveling to Europe is to avoid flying through Paris if at all possible.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  1 October 2009 by A Kwok   (Singapore)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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A third world airport in a first world country. Absolutely dire. Was stranded at CDG due to the A380 flying back to Paris. The airport only has one gate that can handle the A380 with only 1 gangway. At the end of the gangway is a glass corridor. Imagine 444 passengers disembarking at the same time and getting stuck at a bottleneck in the glass corridor that acted like a greenhouse! It took 1 hour to disembark. There were no water fountains or vending machines for stranded passengers to quench their thirst from the gate to the baggage claim area. Delivery of the bags to the carousel took 1 hour for the first bags to appear. There were only two measly little lifts to transport 444 passengers from one floor to another to board their coaches bound for the hotel. It is blatant for all to see that this airport is not on the receiving end of any form of investment. Therefore I would like to know how is it possible that Airbus wants to use it as one of four designated maintenance ports in the world when it doesn't have the infrastructure to support a Boeing 747, let alone an A380?

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  28 September 2009 by Kristian Wederhus   (Norway)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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I found staff quite helpful and pleasant. The queuing times were not much longer than usual, and facilities all there, although not standing remarkably out. The airport was well connected to the train system, but seeing as how constantly crowded the trains were this doesn't really count either way in my review. Seeing as Paris is quite a large city with quite a lot of people living there, visiting etc. the train capacity ought to be improved.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  26 September 2009 by Paul Gurney   (US)

Customer Rating :  5/5

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The improvements during the past year in ease of connections between 2E and 2F as well as passport control are helping finally bring at least part of this airport into a quality facility. It took less than 10 minutes from deplaning in 2E to reach our gate in 2F. No more long walks through empty hallways in 2F are greatly appreciated.

PARIS CDG AIRPORT customer review :  22 September 2009 by B Kovacs   (Hungary)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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assing through CDG Terminal 2D 12 times in the last half year. They still cannot really handle the notion of "Schengen zone": before entering to the check-in area, sometimes the passport is controlled, sometimes only the ticket, sometimes I was only asked about my destination - and sometimes nothing at all. Speed of checking in was usually OK, excepting the last time, when a couple with heavy luggage and an other group of people with disabilities has "surprised" the personnel and blocked the check-in process for about 45 minutes. Several AF flights are using the same desks, so if you arrive late, can end up in a long queue. Passing through security is fast, thus you should not be pressed to do so, because there are only a few facilities and also not too much place to sit on airside. Ticket controlled at the gates, passport is again sometimes controlled in the tunnel, sometimes not. When arriving, luggage is on the belt in about 20 minutes. The very same zone is used for check-in and baggage reclaim.