Why Paris CDG is still the worst airport in Europe

Simon Calder foolishly gave the French hub another chance

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Three things impressed me about my Air France flight from Paris CDG to London Heathrow on Friday night. The first was the price: booking just five hours before departure, I paid £98.

That was £15 cheaper than easyJet to Luton, with the added bonus of a more generous free cabin baggage allowance and an onboard drink.

Second, checking out of the Schengen area at the airport was a breeze. All the EU entry-exit system kiosks for fingerprinting were switched off; I wonder if the French authorities are possibly anticipating a change of tack on the flawed digital borders scheme by Brussels? Instead, British, American and some other favoured "third-country nationals" are able to pass a quick face-check at the eGates and speed through.

Third, on board the Airbus A220 I was occupying an emergency exit row (which I regret to say did not entirely tally with my allocated seat). A member of cabin crew explained meticulously that I had an important role to play in the event of an emergency. He told me to check carefully it was safe to open the door and demonstrated how to wrestle with the equipment.

Then he explained that a slide would pop out of the rear of the wing, which turns out to be an A220 special feature.

Everything else - from trying to reach the airport from central Paris to the unexplained delayed departure - was on a spectrum from disappointing to atrocious.