Passport Control at CDG

Yes, you always go through immigration at your first entry point into the Schengen Zone of Europe. You'll go through customs in Prague.

You may also face a passport check by the airline at the departure gate for your Prague flight, even if you have remained in a secure area. If you are following the same route back to Toronto, the interrogation at the departure lounge before the trans-Atlantic flight probably will be as thorough, and maybe more so, than the initial immigration security check.

You can't remain in a secure area with an E to F transition. You come out of the E arrivals hall and go across to F. You will have been in the public access area so everything starts over again.

Thanks for all the comments. I didn't appreciate that we would be coming out of a secure area in CDG to catch the flight to Prague. I thought we would be staying in a secure zone until we reached Prague. I will have to take this into account when booking our flights.

You sound as if you are concerned about the amount of time needed to make the transfer, which is wise. Be aware that the listed departure time of the second flight is not your target. Many airlines now insist you should be in your seat at least a half-hour early and close the cabin door to make the point. So subtract that margin from the time between flights. There may be some leeway if the planes are run by the same airline but I play it safe by allowing for less time than the estimate on paper.

It'd be really helpful to know what kind of interval you're considering.

A lot of us have a great deal of experience with the airport.

The minimum I have seen on flights going through CDG is about an hour but the flights we are considering allow a transfer time in the 1 1/2 hour to 1 3/4 hour range. We have had good experiences flying Air France but all their flights from Toronto to Prague go through CDG. Our last experience clearing customs through CDG was less than satisfactory when 3 of the 4 customs officers working 8 am Sunday morning decided they needed a coffee/smoke break at the same time. The hundreds of people waiting were not impressed.

We are also considering Air Canada. All their flights to Prague go through Frankfurt, Munich or Vienna which I understand are run with typical Germanic efficiency. The minimum time allowed in those airports is about 50 minutes.

As long as I'm within 2A -2F, I'm happy with an hour at Roissy and don't even think about it. It takes less than five minutes to cross from E over to F. I've gotten nervous a couple of times with checked baggage, however.

With the German airports, what shows up is fine. I like Frankfurt better than Munich for some reason.

I doubt that I've ever been in the Vienna airport. If I have, I can't remember it.

When I connected at CDG two years ago, the Passport Control line took 45 minutes, so I and a few others missed our connecting flight and had to be rebooked on a later connection. (I believe my flight plan had originally included one hour for the connection.)

Mike: It is also a function of what time of the day you arrive. I suspect you will be arriving early in the morning and may be in a crush of travelers trying to get through passport control. I am always reluctant to schedule less than two hours between connections. Not only does it reduce stress, I can also get a nice cup of coffee and a croissant before the next flight.

If there is a long line at Passport Control, try getting into the First Class/Priority line instead. Show the agent your boarding pass and explain that you have a very tight connection. This worked for me at CDG when I landed at Terminal 2E and needed to catch my connection in 2C.