Hi- I will arrive at CDG 2F at 14.25 midweek, on an international flight, wait to pick up my luggage at baggage reclaim and then transit to Terminal 3 (for a UK flight)by 16.00. Take off is 16.30, but the gates closes at 1600. Is this at all possible? Thanks.

Hi m,

It's possible, even likely, but be prepared to run a lot.

Do you know for sure you have to claim/recheck your bags? Unless your Paris > London flight is on one of the budget carriers that doesn't inter-line, you can probably check your luggage all the way through.

That's 1.5 hrs between arrival and the time you want to be at that gate, seems fine to me, as long as your plane is on time. If you get your bags by 3 pm, that gives you an entire hour to take the shuttle bus over to T3. I don't see any problem unless your plane is late.

You probably know better than anyone what terminal you need but check to be sure it is T3. This terminal is used for private and charter planes. I was not aware of commercial flights at T3.

Larry J

There are few airlines on this planet more commercial than EasyJet which, like the other low-cost scheduled airlines that use T3, relies neither on fat handouts from governments nor a historical near-monopoly on access to major airports.

Incidentally, EasyJet don't close the gate 30 minutes before departure. They close check-in then: so you've got 90 minutes to get from the arriving plane to the front of the checkin queue.

Even if low-cost airlines allowed interlining (and they don't), there's no airside bus between T2 and T3, and you can't do it on foot. Resign yourself to waiting, impatiently, for the no 5 landside bus to turn up, and to then hoping it goes straight to T3, not stopping too often at 2D or 2B.

If anything goes wrong (and CDG landside buses have a distressing habit of taking the scenic route when you're in a hurry) there's nothing you can do, though you might try persuading a cabdriver at T2 to take you to T3 (good luck!!!). EZ won't refund your fare, and if you're not heading for London you may find it's too late to book onto another flight to your final destination that day. At best, you'll need an expensive BA or AF flight to Heathrow, followed by the appropriate (and, at short notice, mortgage-requiringly pricey) domestic connection. But many low-cost destinations in the UK don't have flights to Heathrow or Gatwick: if you're flying to Liverpool or Leeds, missing the flight will get really messy.

I'd book the next EZ flight or an earlier flight from wherever you're starting from. If that's not possible, plan a completely different travelling strategy. You'll probably - just - make it. But you'll almost certainly ruin your journey worrying.

You'll probably (no better) be OK if nothing goes wrong. But in almost any journey involving CDG - especially if you're not minutely expert on every detail of its operations - something does go wrong more often than not. My experience has always been that AF staff then bend over backwards to help you out. But only if you're connecting to AF. EZ, or whichever low cost it is, simply isn't resourced to take on the great Aeroports de Paris screw-up machine.

<b>IF</b> your flight is on easyjet then flanner's info is more on target than any of the others above. It is very, VERY likely that you will miss the connection. Both because of the mess that is CDG, and because of EJ's strictly enforced check in requirements.

Apparently you have already bought all the tickets. When is the trip? If the EasyJet's ticket was cheap enough, I probably just eat it and buy a later one. (IF the trip is far enough in the future that you can still get a cheap fare).

Otherwise you may end up buying a much more expensive ticket from EJ at CDG.