Paris-Faroe Islands on Atlantic Airways: an excellent introduction to the Faroe Islands

As part of the promotion of Atlantic Airways and the Faroe Islands in France, Travelguys went with influential media colleagues to the Faroe Islands, at the invitation of the Faroe Islands airline, Atlantic Airways and GroupExpression.

Find the program of the series of articles which will be dedicated to Atlantic Airways:

Review#	Type	Post
1	Discovery	Atlantic Airways : The Atlantic ambition
2	Flight	Paris-Faroe Islands on Atlantic Airways: an excellent introduction to the Faroese archipelago
3	Flight	Torshavn-Klaksvik-Kirkja-Klaksvik: put yourself in the shoes of James Bond
4	Flight	Faroe Islands-Paris on Atlantic Airways

Atlantic Airways operates two flights per week from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, on Mondays and Thursdays, throughout the summer season until October 17, 2022. The schedules are as follows:

# Flight	Day	Paris-Faroe Islands (Vagar)	Faroe Islands (Vagar)-Paris
RC424/425	Monday	13:35-15:15	09:00-12:35
RC424/425	Thursday	16:45-18:25	12:10-15:45

These schedules allow a Parisian to spend a long weekend in the Faroe Islands, leaving on Thursday afternoon and returning on Monday morning. The meeting point is at the new terminal 2B of Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 13:30, well in advance of the flight departure. Nevertheless, the strike of the ground staff that day justified this safety margin!

Atlantic Airways has no ground staff at CDG. All services are therefore subcontracted. The check-in is courteous. The Faroe Islands are theoretically not part of the Schengen area, although in practice, no passport control will be carried out, neither on departure from Paris nor on arrival in Vagar. If in doubt, to avoid any disappointment, take your passport and do not try with an identity card!

The passage of the security checkpoint was done quickly, despite the strike of the day. It should be noted that Atlantic Airways does not currently offer access to priority facilities at Paris-CDG airport as part of its fares or frequent flyer program levels.

The group then moved to the Sheltair lounge in Terminal 2D. Please note thatAtlantic Airways does not offer lounge access as part of its current service. On the other hand, our accompanist secured an exceptional lounge access for the needs of the group briefing.

The lounge, a former Air France lounge from the time the French national airline operated in Terminal 2D, is starting to date. And for good reason, it will close in July 2022, according to the information given to Travelguys.

A food offer, consisting of cold cuts, some raw vegetables, bread, and a hot dish (chicken basquaise) is proposed. The same goes for the drinks with the strong point of offering champagne.

The group heads to the gate at boarding time, 16:15. The boarding has in fact already started, even ending. The load factor of the day is not very high.

Atlantic Airways has a fleet of three A320s, including two A320 Neos. It is one of these two that will take us to the Faroe Islands today. The capacity is 174 seats for all aircrafts. The fleet is single class, so there is no difference in service on board. The airline ordered two additional A320 Neo aircraft at the 2019 Paris Air Show, with delivery scheduled for 2027.

I settle temporarily in 16A, while waiting for the end of the boarding. Indeed, a couple is sitting next to me, while many rows are available. I will finally settle in 17F. The sharklets reflect the identity of the airline.

A small ledge allows to put a tablet or a phone to make a private screen.

Each inter-seat is equipped with two USB sockets. That means 4 USB outlets for a row of 3 passengers.

We received a very warmwelcome from the crew who welcomed us today. Atlantic Airways has about 30 commercial pilots, including 8 helicopter pilots. As for the cabin crew, there are between 70 and 80 of them. The Faroe Islands are a small community, so the crew all know each other!

Atlantic Airways has reintroduced its in-flight magazine, Atlantic Review, this quarter. A certain pleasure to find a paper magazine, whose habit had been lost in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic!

The Faroese airline offers free coffee, tea and mineral water. Beyond that, it is possible to buy alcohol, some soft drinks (fruit juice, soda) and sandwiches in buy-on-board. For our readers who are not familiar with Danish currency and divisions by 7.5, here are some conversions: the sandwich will cost you 7.40€ each, a 33cl can of excellent Faroese beer will cost 4.70€, and a 33cl can of Pepsi will cost 2.70€.

Nevertheless, it is possible to pre-order more elaborate options online before departure. We will experience this on our outbound and return flight. Here are the proposed choices, reproduced on an Atlantic Airways reservation page.

We push back, on time.

Goodbye Paris, see you Monday!

Atlantic Airways offers a wifi connection portal but without internet access. Nevertheless, it allows you to watch movies, TV series or Faroese radio during your flight. This service is to be noted as a quality investment for such a small airline. There is also a very detailed moving map!

It’s time for a snack. On the distributed tray are two slices of black bread. The first with raw vegetables (shrimp, hard-boiled egg, cucumber, fish egg), the second with a piece of fried fish and horseradish. Both sandwiches are very fresh and make a great snack for that mid-afternoon flight.

I finish the meal with a black coffee.

The weather lightly improves at the level of Scotland, north of Inverness.

After Scotland, it’s the big blue of the North Sea until the Faroes.

Unfortunately, the weather turns cloudy again as we enter the Faroe Islands.

We will have a first glimpse of the archipelago only a few kilometers before the landing, with nevertheless majestic landscapes.

The airport of Vagar being not large, planes at the end of the runway have to maneuver on the turnaround area.

We are parked at a remote parking point. In Vagar, no HSBC gateway, but a good old tarmac landing.

Although the Faroe Islands are theoretically not Schengen, we will not have any police control. The police booth seems to be abandoned or reserved for special flights.