Air France Business, London Heathrow - Paris Charles-de-Gaulle: A good hour of delay!

I leave the lounge at the theoretical boarding time, 30 minutes before the flight departure time. I know that the feeder flight arrived a good 20 minutes late already.

As a reminder, the route followed:

#	Type	Review
1	Diary	Back to school trips to Paris and the United States
2	Lounge	Club Aspire Lounge, London Heathrow T3
3	Flight	Air France Business, London Heathrow – Paris Charles-de-Gaulle
4	Hotel	Intercontinental Paris Champs-Elysées
5	Lounge	Air France Business Lounge, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle 2E-K
6	Flight	Air France Business, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle – London Heathrow
7	Lounge	British Airways Concorde Room, London Heathrow T5
8	Flight	British Airways First, London Heathrow – Chicago O’Hare, Airbus A380-800
9	Hotel	Kimpton Grey Chicago
10	Hotel	Kimpton Monaco Chicago
11	Hotel	Intercontinental Chicago
12	Lounge	American Airlines Flagship Lounge, Chicago O’Hare T3
13	Flight	American Airlines Domestic First, Chicago O’Hare – Charlotte, Boeing 737-800
14	Lounge	American Airlines Admirals Club, Charlotte Concourse C
15	Flight	American Airlines Domestic First, Charlotte – New-York La Guardia, Boeing 737-800
16	Hotel	Kimpton Muse, New-York
17	Hotel	Intercontinental New-York Times Square
18	Lounge	British Airways Concorde Room, New-York JFK T7
19	Flight	British Airways First Suite, New-York JFK – London Heathrow, Boeing 777-300ER

Today’s itinerary

Boarding

At Heathrow Terminal 3, boarding passes are scanned as you enter the departure lounge. So I head to the podium and wait for the boarding to start.

10 minutes before departure, the boarding for Paris is launched with the zones 1 and 2 (SkyPriority) and I will be the first one on board after the wheelchair which precedes me.

Cabin and welcome

The welcome at the door is warm and I sit in row 1 of the now traditional Smart & Beyond cabin.

During boarding, refreshing wipes are served.

But unfortunately, the boarding is prolonged and we will push back only one hour later. In the meantime, the purser will come by to ask if the Business passengers would like something to drink. I will have a glass of champagne while watching the boarding operations finish.

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Service and catering

A nice smell of fish in sauce emanates during our ascent, synonymous of a treat to come… But no, I’m kidding, it’s the crew’s dishes that are warming up 😀

The meal trays are distributed a few minutes after takeoff.

I was pleasantly surprised by the selection offered: a pasta salad with two nice slices of smoked salmon, quality cheeses, rather good and warm bread, and my favorite dessert, a Paris-Brest! What a difference with the post COVID service!

Arrival and disembarkation

We arrive at the boarding gate with the hour of delay that we had at the departure. But the icing on the cake, no Air France staff on the bridge, so the gate was closed when we arrived at the terminal. A good 15 minutes of waiting before someone comes to free us.