[Anonymous]

[rodders]

what a mess….arrived at CDG, waited almost 45 mins from landing for luggage, then had to make the cross city trip to Orly which is reminiscent of a 1960’s bus depot, so before we knock Heathrow, lets look at what our nearest competitors offer which is not so great at all.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Have you tried arriving at a peak time at Heathrow and then transferring to Gatwick?

Orly is an old fashioned airport, but as a regular user, I find it efficient and fit for purpose. It will not win any awards for most attractive terminal, but it does not resemble a 2010s bus depot (e.g. Victoria), never mind one from the 1960s era.

Also, there is an easy rail connection between CDG and ORY, using the RER B line and the OrlyVAL shuttle, connecting through a convenient interface at Antony. Door to door in around an hour, although I have managed less on a good day.

Compare that to taking a train between LHR and LGW, scheduled for around 1 hour 45 minutes.

[FlyingChinaman]

Rodders:

I am in Paris right now and DisguestedofSwieqi is very correct about the RER B train transfer between CDG and ORY. It is relatively effortless BUT not comfortable as it is not a dedicated airport Express train.

I have a pied-a-terre in both Paris and London and regular user of both airports. I found it is much more difficult to transfer from LHR to LGW BY AIRPORT BUS on a congested M25 !!!!!!

Well for the efficiency of CDG and LHR, what can I say as I am from HK and a frequent traveller for HKIA and Changi and other great airports of the A/P region!!!!!!!!!!

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

FC

You are right, the RER is not comfortable, especially in peak periods, the reason I use it is to avoid congestion on the peripherique and other key roads.

There is an Air France coach, for about 19 eur (as I recall), which is more comfortable, but also more subject to uncertainty.

[Swissdiver]

Well, when packed, CDG is a nightmare, let’s be honest about it. Its structure doesn’t allow a decent flow of passenger (2E is a bit better than the rest but still…). Now comparing CDG ORY with LHR LGW transfers doesn’t make sense to me. Actually transferring between two airports doesn’t make sense to me! I would rather route differently even if I have to add a leg to avoid this…

[ConstantFlyer]

Quite right, Swissdiver. There is very little logic in “connecting” between CDG and ORY or LHR and LGW, or any other so-called “London” airport for that matter. You might as well “connect” between MAN and LPL or between VIE and BTS.

[JordanD]

ConstantFlyer and Swissdiver – sometimes it is unavoidable: a perfect example is what I had to do last year returning from a wedding in Montpellier. There is only one direct flight to London – on easyJet, which does not depart at the same time each day.

As such, whilst getting out there was no problem, getting back was more of an issue – and so AF via ORY & CDG was the option left available. The connection itself was painless (Sunday afternoon in August meant that the RER was empty and I could happilly take out my laptop and do some work during the journey), but arrival at ORY is a nightmare: you get turned off out of the aircraft and left to really fend for yourself. Not impressed with that.

[Swissdiver]

TGV to CDG (4 hours) or to Lyon (2 hours but then a cab to the airport) could have been an option.

[ConstantFlyer]

I recently did a transfer between LGW and LTN and was surprised how relatively painless it was (by Thameslink train), even if it did take ages. And cost over £20.

Do I get a prize for the longest distance transfer? I recently flew into Krakow in Poland, and took an overnight train (12hrs, c. 600km) to Budapest. Very comfortable sleeper train.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

“Now comparing CDG ORY with LHR LGW transfers doesn’t make sense to me.”

Any particular reason why not?

– both are the #1 and 2 airports for the city they serve
– both have major carriers (BA/AF) who sell connecting flights that require a transfer

Much better to avoid transferring, I agree, but why doesn’t the comparison makes sense?

[Swissdiver]

@DoS: Because it should be avoided. Now comparing for the sake of comparing… If you like to…

[MarkCymru]

Swissdiver’s right. The difference between London and Paris is that there are very fast trains from many parts of France to CDG with no stop in the city centre (much less a change of stations) — they go around Paris. I often do Lyon to CDG — it’s fast and costs about half what what a first-class train trip of equivalent length costs in the UK

[transferprivate]

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