The date was May 15th, and I was looking forward to my first flight on an A340 as well as my first trip with AF. It was a nice sight to see the AF A340 in Dallas. F-GLZR would be my ride for the night as AF043, and considering that it was only the 9th day of service for AF on the DFW-CDG route, AF must have been pretty happy. Coach was packed, and business class was pretty full (although I learned from a FA that all 6 first class seats were vacant). After a long taxi from terminal E, followed by an equally long wait we finally rolled off and away on 17R. Inflight entertainment was average at best inspite of seat back TVs - I really couldn't find anything interesting. Arrival into CDG was at 12:15, about 40 minutes behind schedule. I have finally managed to fly on all Airbus types - woohoo! (A319, 320, 321, 310, 300, 330 & 340 - I didn't miss any did I?)

My second leg, CDG-DFW, was aboard an F100 (G-BYDO), operated by franchise partner Gill Airways as AF1298. The scheduled 3 hour flying time was cut short by almost 30 minutes owing to some strong tail winds. But arrival into Helsinki was still delayed by almost half an hour owing to some ATC delays at CDG even before we took off.

The overall service on AF was certainly good, and I would fly AF again. I am yet to find an airline that beats SQ though ... Another trip, another airline and another aircraft in the A340 to add to my list!