This trip, I had the mission to be completed at Paris – France. After I checked for the direct flight from Thai Airways and Air France, two big players in this route, the price was sky rocket high for economy class. So, I had decided to seek for the connecting flights which had reasonable price and good schedule. Finally, I could find my flying heaven from long lose friend, Etihad Airways, the 5-stars airline from middle east. It had surprisingly match with my needs, arrive Paris in the morning and less than 2 hours for connecting at Abu Dhabi Airport. Above of all, it had only 1,100 USD for round-trip ticket. I did not hesitate to grab it ! 😄
The summary of the flights for this trip is following.
Flight – 1
Route : Bangkok_Suvarnabhumi (BKK) – Abu Dhabi (AUH)
Flight : EY409 – Etihad Airways
Aircraft : Boeing 787-9
ETD : 09:25 PM (GMT+7)
ETA : 00:50 AM +1 (GMT+4)
Duration : 6 Hours 25 Minutes
Cabin : Economy
———— Layover time : 1 Hour 35 Minutes ———–
Flight – 2
Route : Abu Dhabi (AUH) – Paris_Charles De Gaulle (CDG)
Flight : EY31 – Etihad Airways
Aircraft : Airbus A350-1000
ETD : 02:25 AM+1 (GMT+4)
ETA : 07:45 AM+1 (GMT+2)
Duration : 7 Hours 20 minutes
Cabin : Economy
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I started my journey by arriving Bangkok – Suvarnabhumi Airport at 6.30PM, about 3 hours before departure time.
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Etihad check-in counters are at Row-G. I did online check-in in advance already. I could proceed to baggage drop-off counter to skip the long queue.
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I finished the baggage drop-off, visa verification and getting the boarding pass within 10 minutes. 😁 Then, I proceeded to security check and passed immigration as usual.
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About 7PM, I could reached the airside area. I had about 2 hours before boarding. So, I used my credit card to get the privilege to relax at the lounge. Today, the boarding will be done at Gate – E7.
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At 8.45PM, I walked to the gate E7. The aircraft was at the gate waiting for us already.
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As soon as I arrived at the gate, the boarding was commenced. The ground staffs had organized the boarding by zone and seat number.
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The economy class seats were arranged as 3-3-3. The seat pitch is comfortable for long haul flight with above average leg room. It had blanket, pillow, headphone, hand cream, ear plugs and eyes mask for every economy seat. In front seat pocket, it had magazine and safety instruction. PTV is available every seat too.
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After boarding completed, the flight was pushed back and taken-off on time. When it was at cruising altitude and seat belt sign had been switched off, I started to survey the lavatory. It had hand soap and sanitary equipment.
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Then, I did not know what was happening ! Two hours after taking off, the meal service was just started. As it was night flight, I expected to get meal service as fast as possible to finish it and take a rest. The meal service was also slow, I got my meal almost half an hour after the service was started. It had 2 choices for economy class, chicken choice and vegetarian choice. But, when the cabin crew serve me, it had only vegetarian choice ! (Double disappoint 😮💨). It was Pasta in vegetarian sauce served with Quinoa salad and blueberry cake. And, I ordered apple juice to have with the meal.
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After meal, I did take a nap for few hours. 30 Minutes before arrival, the captain had announced to prepare for landing. One more thing, it had live TV in flight too. Football lover passengers can enjoy the live match if the flying time is on match-day. ⚽️🥅
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Then, the flight was landed at Zayed International Airport – Abu Dhabi safely on-time. After disembark, I searched for “Transfer” sign to find the way to connect my flight to Paris. I had to pass through the security checkpoint again before heading to the gate. Today, my flight to Paris would be boarding at Gate – D46 which I had to walk about 15 minutes to get there.
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Once I arrived at the gate and sat about 10 minutes, the ground staff had announced for boarding. The passengers were called to board the aircraft by zone and seat number.
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The economy class seats were arranged as 3-3-3. The seat pitch is wide and convenient (my seat was at extra legroom seat too 😇). As same as the first flight from Bangkok to Abu Dhabi, all seats have blanket, pillow, eyes mask, hand cream, earphones and earplugs. In front seat pocket, it also has safety instruction sheet and magazine.
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After finishing boarding, the flight was taken-off right on-time. Then, when it was at cruising speed and the seatbelt sign was turned off. The cabin crews serve the snack (Vegan pizza puff) and soft drink to all economy passengers. Sorry, I was so hungry and forgot to take photo of the snack. I took only apple juice photo 🥹
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Then, I did survey the lavatory. It was at Etihad’s standard which is well clean and full equipped with hand soap and hot water for hand washing.
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I could took a rest on the flight for 4 hours as I had to work immediately as soon as I land at Paris. 🥱
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Two hours before arrival, breakfast had been served. For economy class, it had 2 choices, Omelette with sausage or French toast. I chose the omelette. It was served with mixed fruit and mango yoghurt and soft drink.
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After breakfast, the captain announced to prepare for landing. The flight was arrived Paris – Charles De Gaulle airport on-schedule.
After landing, it had announcement that “Due to some technical problem with aerobridge, the passengers will be transferred to the terminal by coach“. It should not be happened. 🤨
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We arrived the terminal almost 8.30AM. Then, I just followed the sign “Baggage” and “Exit” to find the immigration. It had long immigration queue as it was morning time, many flights were landed. Furthermore, as I am holding Thai Passport, I could not use automatic immigration gates. I spent almost 30 minutes to complete immigration process.
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Once I passed thru the immigration checkpoint, I headed to the baggage claim area. I could get my checked-in baggages at belt number 42. I waited about 15 minutes to get them.
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So far, it meant I have arrived Paris (or Schengen area) completely. I decided to get in the city center by RER train which is the most convenient, cheapest and fastest way (15 EUR/passenger). To get the train to the city, I just followed the sign “Ground Transportation”
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Overall, Etihad has their quality standard as 5-stars airline. But, for my flights, they still had some particular error which I think they were an accident, late meal service in first flight and getting to arrival terminal by bus gate at Paris. However, the rests were satisfied. For me, Etihad is still the one of my first choice to select and travel for the long haul journey with transiting at Abu Dhabi. Finally, I hope this review is useful for you as the guideline to select the airline to travel from Thailand to France. I hope you have a wonderful moment in Paris. 🇫🇷😁✈️
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Written by : Shipy Siwarit Tiasuwattiseth
Shipy-Ship 