Paris Airports: Preparing for the Olympic Games Influx

DALLAS — The Olympic Games of Paris 2024 will be among the biggest sporting events worldwide, gathering more than 10,0500 athletes, 20,000 accredited journalists and 45,000 volunteers.

With the opening ceremony happening today, aviation has played a vital role in transporting to Paris the aforementioned athletes, staff, and spectators from around the world—whose turnout has been affected by the local political climate. The city's aviation authority took measures to get ready for the influx.

Aéroports de Paris (ADP) is the French company that owns the three major airports in the French capital city: Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport — also known as Roissy Airport (CDG), Paris-Orly Airport (ORY) and Paris–Le Bourget Airport (LBG).

‍Airways contacted the company to learn more about the preparation for the summer Olympics. The airports in the French capital have shared with us some of their plans and the logistics involved to ensure operations go smoothly during the games.

An Olympic Logistical Challenge

Playing the role of host city for the Olympics comes with many challenges, mainly due to the dense traffic on exact dates. Another significant issue is the large amount of fragile luggage arriving with the athletes carrying their equipment.

The airport explained that it expected the usual passenger numbers for this summer: indeed, some travelers may try to avoid the area while traveling, which will compensate for the increase due to the athletes, officials, and tourists who come for the games.

Even though there will be as many passengers, fewer will have a connecting flight, meaning passenger terminals and transportation between the airport and the city will be more congested.

The airport will still have to welcome 64,000 accredited guests, which includes athletes and officials participating in the event. The accreditations will occur directly in the airport, and specific desks will be there to ensure this procedure can be efficient during the peaks. 

Indeed, the passenger numbers will be unevenly distributed throughout July and August: ADP said it was expecting arrival peaks lasting two to three weeks before the games, with up to 44,000 arrivals per day. 

Departures from Paris will be even more concentrated, with most expected during the few days after the closing ceremony. The airports must adapt to ensure they can process dense traffic smoothly.

Each airport will have its specificities, with Paris Orly (ORY) welcoming mostly the European delegations, Paris Le Bourget (LBG) handling only private jets and located just next to the media center for the games. The busiest airport will be Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), which will welcome most delegations.

The airport insisted on the challenges raised by these specific passengers, explaining, “We will be dealing with different types of passengers, requiring adjustments in terms of capacity and the handling of oversized baggage.”

Preparing for the Week

To succeed in that challenge, the airport has innovated and created new procedures to welcome the athletes and the regular passengers.

The airports plan to increase their capacity by increasing the staff numbers at border control. Athletes and officials will have access to dedicated accreditation areas where they can register upon their arrival in Paris.

After getting their accreditation, athletes will have dedicated bus transport to the Olympic Village organized by the Paris 2024 organizing committee.

Another major issue airports have to address is accessibility. Indeed, the Paralympic games, for athletes with disabilities, are also happening in Paris just a few days after the end of the Olympic games. Therefore, ADP must ensure it will be able to accommodate the athletes.

The group announced it will have 26 Ambulifts to transport passengers with disabilities and their attendants to and from aircraft this summer and carry their equipment.

Connecting Airports with the City Center

During the games and after, access to the city using public transport is another challenge. The Paris metropolis has expanded and modernized its rail network to facilitate travel.

The TGV train station located in CDG airport’s Terminal 2 will accommodate the large number of passengers expected during the coming years, especially with the opening of the CDG-Express. This fast train can link CDG to the city center in 20 minutes. While the city initially set the project to open in time for the games, it postponed its inauguration until 2027 amid delays.

However, Paris’ transport company, the RATP, did manage to finish the expansion of metro line 14 in time for the games, linking ORY airport with the city center.

The airport will have a dedicated procedure for handling massive objects such as kayaks, poles, or bicycles to tackle the issues of oversized equipment. Athletes will not be able to keep them, as they will be stored at the airport by the ADP team and transported directly to the site.

Even though arrivals of the athletes happened this week and mostly went smoothly, the airport said it expected departures to be even more challenging. Indeed, while arrivals were spread out over multiple days or weeks, departures are expected to happen three days after the closing ceremony.

The Olympic Games take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024, when Paris becomes "the centre of the world—the world of sport, and so much more."