Hello, IFC
About a week ago, I made a trip report of a flight from CDG-BIO. Since I did not move for good, here is a trip report for the flight back to CDG.
Here is the first one:
CDG - BIO [HOP! E190] - Trip Report - Real World Aviation - Infinite Flight Community
Information about this flight:
Aircraft: Embraer E170STD
Airline: Air France HOP
Flight: BIO-CDG
Flight time: 1h32
After driving for four hours from Gijon, I arrived at Bilbao. Had a quick lunch, went into the Guggenheim, went out of the Guggenheim, and went to the airport. This is where the story starts.
I arrive at the beautiful departures hall, shaped like an eagle or bird of some sort. After a quick luggage check in and security screening, I walked down the gate area in search for food. I got chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce but they gave me mayo instead, which was really sad.
Here is a picture of the terminal windows… terrible for spotting…
After an hour of crying (jk) (or am I…), I headed to my gate, C24.
The C gates are really strange. They are hard to access and require a little 5 min walk to get to from the main area. They are below everything else and on ground level. The room was about 150 meters long and 10 meters wide and the only decoration was 3 trees that had the trunks painted in LGBTQ+ flag colors, which was original but not unwelcome at all.
I checked the weather for my flight and it was… not great.
Basically my flight followed the yellow/green line from start to end, so CB and thunderstorms the entire way.
It was finally time to board. A very wide bus arrived and picked us up, only to drop us off 15 meters away. Oh well…
There awaited my little plane for the day.
F-HBXG, a 17 year old E170 that had just gotten retrofitted, washed and repainted a few months prior. It used to wear the classic HOP livery but now sports the Air France Crevette design with a HOP sticker.
My seat for the day was 4A, right under the R.
The seat was exactly the same as on the way there, so you can check out the previous trip report if you are curious as I will not waste a picture for the seat.
After boarding, the crew spent 20 minutes shuffling people around to get the right W&B and then we were off to taxi.
Taxi was very quick and the takeoff was uneventful but very pretty. Definitely the most beautiful I have ever seen.
The beautiful city of Bilbao
The Asturian coast, with a thunderstorm and rainbow.
We flew right next to a few CB, which made for some strange and mildly confusing views
(I am a huge fan of the winglet in dark blue with the Crevette)
After a bumpy climb, we settled at IDK thousand feet and it was time for the snack service.
The options were various. For eating, there were various sandwiches, biscuits and breads, and drinks contained a wide variety of juices, soft drinks and other refreshments.
I opted for a glass of Cristaline and a Tapenade sandwich (both were tasty)
Here is a view of the Etang de Lacanau and Lac D’hourtin, on the western coast of France.
The descent was great. We lowered down to the top of the cumulus layer and cloud-surfed for about 15 minutes. It was absolutely beautiful. I have some videos if anyone wishes to see them.
Unfortunately, the short flight was almost over and it was time to stow our tray tables and ensure our seats were in the upright position. Here is a view of some random Colza fields… somewhere
Le Winglet and Le River
The landing was a bit harsh but it’s okay, the pilot was very new so I’ll give them credit.
After a long taxi at CDG, it was time to deplane, and of course, have a tour of the cockpit!
I got some very kind and encouraging words from the flight crew and was happily on my way out to the terminal (2G).
After waiting on the périphérique for roughly 6 hours, i finally got back home :)
Thank you for reading!
Please feel free to give me some feedback on these reports, I’d love to improve!
Thank you
Robertine