The ERJ190 is not a plane that I ride on very frequently. There just aren’t that many of them in the US. Air France has 19 ERJ190s in their subsidiary’s HOP! Fleet. Hop is the regional carrier for Air France and operates these short haul lower capacity routes out of CDG. The Air France ERJ190 is configured with a total of 100 seats. There is a Euro-Business cabin at the front, but the seats are the exact same, just slightly different service. Today we’re riding in Economy on the Air France ERJ190 as I don’t find Euro-Business to be worth the money on such short flights.
I’ve ridden on the Air France HOP ERJ170 a few years ago, I’m mostly expecting the slightly larger Air France ERJ190 to be a pretty similar experience. While we were expecting to go to Palermo we ended up diverted to Catania due to weather. Being diverted is never fun, but we dealt with it and moved on.
Air France HOP operates from CDG terminal 2G. CDG 2G is an odd terminal, it’s not bad, just different. There’s no gate seating, only in a central area. When your boarding time arrives, the gate will display on the board and you walk to the gate. Anyway, let’s get into this Air France ERJ190 Economy review.
Bottom Line: Today’s flight down to PMO is just over 2 hours. So it’s a good chunk of flying but the good news is the ERJ190 is a really comfortable airplane. The in flight service was good and a drink and snack was provided.
Air France ERJ190 CDG Terminal 2G Boarding
When spent our time in the Air France Lounge here in CDG 2G. When boarding time arrived it was shown on the board so started walking to the gate. CDG Terminal 2G is not that big so it’s a pretty quick walk, but feels a lot like a train station.
We walked towards our gate with the rest of the passengers for our flight. No one sits at the gates as there are no chairs, it’s standing room only here at the 2G gates.
As we walked to the gate, our Air France ERJ195 was waiting to take us down to Palermo.
Into the boarding pier here at CDG 2G. You walk though the hallway then down the stairs to the boarding gate. This terminal does feel a little bit temporary and not nearly as nice as the rest of CDG.
We walked down into the gate area and lined up in the Sky Priority area here for zone 2 boarding. Boarding was a little delayed and it appeared the issue was some people had support animals and they were not actual service animal. After some back and forth they allowed the dogs, as long as they stayed in their kennels.
After a few minutes of waiting we soon started boarding. Here at 2G, Air France HOP boards with stairs from outside. This is one of my favorite things, I love walking up to the plane. Looks like our Air France ERJ190 has a slightly mismatched nose cone. This is really common.
Walking near the aircraft really shows the scale of even a small aircraft like the Air France ERJ190.
Air France ERJ190 Economy Cabin
The Economy Cabin on the Air France ERJ190 has seats arranged in a 2-2 configuration. The number of seats does somewhat change as the curtain that separates economy from business class can move depending on load. On today’s flight there were 4 rows of Euro-Business and 21 rows of economy.
There’s no difference in the Euro-Business vs Economy Seats on the AF ERJ190. Just a different head rest cover and then a curtain to separate. I would always recommend avoiding the first row of Economy on any plane that has Euro-Business.
We found our seats on the left hand side of the Air France ERJ190. These seats are perfect for couples traveling together, and one of the reasons that I love the ERJ190, no middle seats on the whole plane!
Air France ERJ190 Economy Seat Review
In our AF ERJ190 seats we stuffed our backpacks under the seats and settled into the flight.
There’s no in seat entertainment option on the Air France ERJ190. There’s also power available on the plane to charge devices. We always travel with a battery bank for these situations. Landing with a dead phone sucks.
The HOP ERJ190 has overheated bins that are large enough to easily take our legal sized carry on bags. The plane boarded pretty quickly and while we’re a little late departing, it’s not too bad.
Air France ERJ190 Departure from CDG
The door was closed and the Air France flight attendants gave the safety presentation.
We pushed back from the gate about 25 minutes late. We headed towards the runway and the taxi time was very short. This flight is just over 2 hours in the air.
On takeoff we got a great view of the French country side. This part of the world is very beautiful and I would encourage anyone to visit.
Very soon after takeoff, the seatbelt sign was turned off and the flight attendants sprung into action. The first thing they did was pull the curtain between the economy cabin and business. This is why I don’t recommended the first row of the economy cabin. The curtain will be in your lap.
Outside it was a beautiful day for flying. The Pilot did tell us that it might be a little rough as we got closer to Sicily but for now it was a really great day to fly.
Air France ERJ190 Economy Snack and Drink Service
Here’s something that Air France does really. Even on this relatively short ERJ190 flight, there’s a drink and snack. There were two different pre-packaged sandwiches a vegetarian option and a meat option. I went with the ham and butter sandwich.
For a pre-made sandwich on a plane, this ham and butter sandwich was very good. I just had water to go along with my sandwich.
Air France ERJ190 Economy In Flight Review
Outside is a fantastic view of the Alps. We’re just about 90 minutes into this flight down to Palarmo with just around an hour left in flight.
This flight was very quiet. The Air France ERJ190 was about 80-90% full, so most seats were occupied, but there were a few seats here and there that were left open.
Air France ERJ190 Economy Lavatory
The rear lavatory on the Air France ERJ190 isn’t huge but is surprisingly large for a regional jet. It was also nice and clean, even here towards the end of the flight.
Air France ERJ190 PMO Approach and Diversion
We began our descent in to Palermo. We were warned that there might be a little bit of weather as we approached.
The approach was definitely a little rocky and our ERJ190 did get thrown around a good bit. The cliffs in the clouds was a really cool sight though. The PMO airport is just on the water’s edge on the north side of Sicily.
Less than a minute later the engines spooled all the way back up and we were climbing very quickly. As soon as it happened Val and I both looked at each other and sighed. We knew we’d be onboard the AF ERJ190 for a little while longer. After climbing back out, the pilots came on and told us we had aborted the landing due to wind gusts. We’d try again.
We did make a second attempt but it was also abandoned but this time at a higher altitude. I could feel us turning south and assumed that we’d be heading for Catania. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later the pilots told us we’d be diverting to CTA and they’d have more information for us once we landed.
It was a 35-40 minute ride down to the other side of the Island. We began our approach again, this time to CTA instead of PMO.
Air France ERJ190 Landing in CTA
Our AF ERJ190 approach into CTA was much smoother than into PMO. Mt Etna in the background was cloaked in clouds and smoke, it erupted with smoke and ash just a few days later and caused some issues here at CTA.
We finally touched down into CTA about 70 minutes after our first attempt at landing in PMO. People did clap on landing, and usually I think that’s a little cheesy, but in this case I don’t mind.
We parked next to an ITA A319 but we had to wait on the plane. We’re an unscheduled arrival and it’s going to take a few minutes to get stairs and busses to take us to the terminal. Air France does service CTA so that’s good.
About 15 minutes later the pilot came and told us that there would be transportation provided to PMO airport. That we could exit the plane and onto busses to the terminal. After collecting bags we could see the Air France agent and be directed.
We walked into the terminal and I had already decided that I would not be using the Air France provided transportation from CTA to PMO. I had reserved a rental car and we’d just drive. It’s 2-3 hours to Palermo from here and I need a rental car anyway. It’s faster and easier to just rent here and drive.
We didn’t have checked baggage so we walked right to the Hertz counter and got our rental car. No way I’m waiting around for a bus.
Air France ERJ190 Economy Final Thoughts
The Air France ERJ190 is a great ride. Even in Economy the 2-2 seating arrangement is very comfortable on flights of this length. Sure, this flight should have been just about 2.5 hours and ended up being closer to 4, but that’s ok. There’s no other regional jet that I’d want to sit in an economy seat for nearly 4 hours before we were able to get off.
The ERJ190 was very pleasant. Air France does a nice job on these regional flights. There isn’t in seat entertainment or power though so make sure you have something to keep yourself entertained and your devices charged. The small snack sandwich was a nice feature on this flight, it’s not a full meal, but a small sandwich and a drink is perfect for an economy flight.
Getting diverted sucks, but the safely process worked. The pilots made their landing attempts but the weather just wasn’t cooperating. They made the decision to divert as that’s what’s dictated in the situation. Planes can’t circle forever so after two attempts, we’re heading for a different airport. Once on the ground I’m glad we didn’t wait around for the arranged transportation, we needed a rental car anyway, why not just get one here at CTA.
At the end of the day the Air France ERJ190 is a great ride and I would gladly fly on one again.
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