Departed CDG T2 yesterday. Banks of E-gates to one side unused. Manual processing.
I asked the agent what’s happened to EES and the electronic gates? She rolled her eyes had a bit of a giggle and said it a little exasperated tone. “Sometimes they use them in the morning. Sometimes they don’t. They really don’t know what to do with them.”
Which part of T2? I mean which letter?
The reason I am asking is because in my 10 passes through CDG this year the electronic gates seemed to be in use.
However I used the priority lanes so the processing was often manual anyway.
On at lest one occasion I passed through a designated E-Gate but then had to front an officer anyway.
I must admit I don't always remember these sorts of details.
Especially if I am with my parter and we are focusing on how to avoid being separated because of our different passports.
Out of interest, almost all of CDG is designated as part of T2 - the whole labyrinthine complex on either side of the multi-level motorway.
Even the sprawling extensions to 2E and the physically separate terminal building designated 2G.
(Somewhat counter-intuitively, 2F is more central, opposite the original 2E in the main Terminal 2 complex.)
Otherwise there is just:
- the horrendous old circular T1, with the central space criss-crossed by transparent tubes containing a hybrid of travelators & escalators which must have seemed futuristic in the 1970s but now seem very strange), which is used by some airlines such as QR and also seems to be used as the backup when they renovate parts of T2 (for example some Oneworld airlines and Etihad used it while 2A & 2C were closed last year); and
- the tiny new T3 (with separate buildings for departures and arrivals) which is used for some short haul intra-Schengen flights (operated by airlines other than AF such as IB).
Both of these are physically separate, off to the north, on the other side of a strip of hotels and other service buildings, and separately accessible by road.