Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport

Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (IATA: CDG, ICAO: LFPG) (French: Aéroport Paris-Charles de Gaulle), also known as Roissy Airport (or just Roissy in French), in the Paris area, is one of the world's principal aviation centres, as well as France's largest airport. It is named after Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970), leader of the Free French Forces and founder of the French Fifth Republic. It is located within portions of several communes, 25 km (16 mi)^[2] to the northeast of Paris. The airport serves as the principal hub for Air France.

In 2010, the airport handled 58,164,612 passengers^[4] and 525,314 aircraft movements,^[3] making it the world's seventh busiest airport and Europe's second busiest airport (after London Heathrow) in passengers served. It also is the world's tenth busiest and Europe's busiest airport in aircraft movements. In cargo traffic, the airport is the fifth busiest in the world and the busiest in Europe, having handled 2,054,515 metric tonnes of cargo.^[5]

Location

Charles de Gaulle Airport extends over 32.38 km² (12.50 sq mi) of land. The choice of this vast area was made based on the limited number of potential relocations and expropriations and the possibility to further expand the airport in the future. It straddles three départements and six communes:

• Seine-et-Marne département: communes of Le Mesnil-Amelot (Terminals 2E, 2F ), Mauregard (Terminals 1, 3), Mitry-Mory^[6]
• Seine-Saint-Denis département: commune of Tremblay-en-France (Terminals 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, and Roissypôle)^[6]
• Val-d'Oise département: communes of Roissy-en-France and Épiais-lès-Louvres

Management of the airport is solely under the authority of Aéroports de Paris (ADP), which also manages Orly, Le Bourget, Marsa Alam in Egypt and several smaller airports in the suburbs of Paris.

History

The planning and construction phase of what was known then as Aéroport de Paris Nord (Paris North Airport) began in 1966. On 8 March 1974 the airport, renamed Charles de Gaulle Airport, began service. Terminal 1 was built in an avant-garde design of a ten-floors-high circular building surrounded by seven satellite buildings, each with four gates. The main architect was Paul Andreu, who was also in charge of the extensions during the following decades.

Corporate identity

The Frutiger typeface was commissioned for use in the airport and implemented on signs throughout the building in 1975. Initially called Roissy, it was renamed for its designer Adrian Frutiger.

Until 2005, every PA announcement made at Terminal 1 was preceded by a distinctive chime, nicknamed "Indicatif Roissy" and composed by Bernard Parmegiani in 1971. The chime can be heard in the Roman Polanski film Frantic. Although the chime was officially replaced by the "Indicatif ADP" chime in late 2005 there recently have been unconfirmed reports that Indicatif Roissy has occasionally returned.

Terminals

The Airport has three terminals. Terminal 1^[7] is the oldest. Terminal 2^[8] was originally built exclusively for Air France, since then it has been expanded significantly and now also hosts other airlines. The third terminal (T3, formerly T9) hosts charter and low-cost airlines. The CDGVAL is a light-rail shuttle that links the terminals, railway station and parking lots. Started on 4 April 2007, the CDGVAL links all three terminals (except hall 2G). There is only a single station for Terminal 2, near the rail station, so the walk distance to the more distant halls 2A–2B is more than 500 m (1,600 ft) (and both CDGVAL and bus are needed to reach 2G from Terminal 1).

Terminal 1

The first terminal, designed by Paul Andreu, was built in the image of an octopus. It consists of a circular central part dedicated to the home for travellers, placed in the middle of tarmac, of which seven satellites which are erected planes and actual boarding rooms. The eighth satellite location is occupied by access ramps for motor vehicles and a rail shuttle station.

The central building, with a vast skylight in its centre, sees each floor dedicated to a single function. The first floor is reserved for the technical functions and is not accessible to the public. The second floor contains shops and restaurants, the passengers from the other terminals by the CDGVAL shuttle home and a part of the counters from a recent renovation. The majority of counters is located on the third floor, which also has the access to travel by taxi, bus and special vehicles. Departing travellers can reach the fourth floor, where duty-free stores and border control posts are, and access to satellite terminals in which will take place boarding tunnels passing under the tracks. Travellers arriving in these same satellites follow a path to reach the fifth floor where baggage and customs are located, as well as the arrival area and exit areas. The four upper floors are reserved for parking or use of administration and the airlines.

The passage between the third, fourth and fifth floors is done through a tangle of escalators arranged in the centre of the building. These escalators are suspended over the central court and are therefore open. Each escalator is covered with a transparent tube for insulation. These escalators were often used in films (for example, in The Last Gang of Ariel Zeitoun). The Alan Parsons Project album I Robot features these escalators on its cover.

Andreu initially had envisaged building several terminals on this model. Nevertheless, the first years of operation identified several defects due to the original design of the building. Thus, there is not great hall of the building, unlike other designs to more traditional airports makes his operation more complicated when connecting flights. Many passengers have been disappointed to have no view of planes from the main terminal, in contrast to the situation at the airport of Orly. Finally, the satellite design requires passengers to take an important journey on foot to climb the aircraft or for its descent and the baggage retrieval. It thus paved the way for a more traditional design for future terminals at CDG.

Terminal 1 has a single main building for check-in and baggage reclaim with 7 satellites for arrivals and departures. Each satellite can handle about 5 aircraft at any given time. Underground walkways with moving walkways connect the satellites to the main building. Terminal 1 was built in an avant-garde design which is maintained today even though interior sections of the building have been renovated and modernised. The RER station for Terminal 1,^[9] Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 1, is at a distance from Terminal 1 must be reached using the free CDGVAL automatic light rail system (Véhicule Automatique Léger (VAL); previously, shuttle buses were used.

Terminal 2

Today Terminal 2 consists of multiple terminals joined together by ground-level or below-ground passageways. The seven terminals consist of 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F and the separate 2G. Terminal 2G is located 2.5 km (1.6 mi) away from the terminals 2A–2F and a bus ride is needed for transfer. Terminal 2 also has an RER and TGV station, Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 – TGV, below the common area linking halls 2C–2F.

Collapse of Terminal 2E

Terminal 2E, with a daring design and wide open spaces, was CDG's newest addition. On 23 May 2004, not long after its inauguration, a portion of Terminal 2E's ceiling collapsed early in the day, near Gate E50, killing four people.^[10] Two of the dead were reported to be Chinese citizens and another a Czech. Three other people were injured in the collapse. Terminal 2E had been inaugurated in 2003 after some delays in construction and was designed by Paul Andreu. Administrative and judicial enquiries were started. Andreu also designed Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, which collapsed while under construction on 28 September 2004.

Before this accident, ADP had been planning for an initial public offering in 2005 with the new terminal as a major attraction for investors. The partial collapse and indefinite closing of the terminal just before the beginning of summer seriously hurt the airport's business plan.

In February 2005, the results from the administrative inquiry were published. The experts pointed out that there was no single fault, but rather a number of causes for the collapse, in a design that had little margin for safety. The inquiry found the concrete vaulted roof was not resilient enough and had been pierced by metallic pillars and some openings weakened the structure. Sources close to the inquiry also disclosed that the whole building chain had worked as close to the limits as possible, so as to reduce costs. Paul Andreu denounced the building companies for having not correctly prepared the reinforced concrete.

On 17 March 2005, ADP decided to tear down and rebuild the whole part of Terminal 2E (the "jetty") of which a section had collapsed, at a cost of approximately €100 million.^[11] The reconstruction replaced the innovative concrete tube style of the jetty with a more traditional steel and glass structure. During reconstruction, two temporary departure lounges were constructed in the vicinity of the terminal that replicated the capacity of 2E before the collapse. The terminal reopened completely on 30 March 2008.

Expansion plans 2007–2012

Apart from the reconstruction of Terminal 2E, two major terminal extensions are underway as of 2008.

The completion of 750 m (2,460 ft) long Satellite 3 (or S3) to the immediate east of Terminals 2E and 2F provides further jetways for large-capacity airliners, specifically the Airbus A380. Check-in and baggage handling are provided by the existing infrastructure in Terminals 2E and 2F. Satellite 3 was opened in part on 27 June 2007 and fully operational in September 2007.

Construction began on a new terminal building, Terminal 2G, to the east of the S3 construction site in September 2006, with the first stone of the new building itself laid in March 2007. This terminal was in operation in March 2009. It is connected to the Terminal 2 complex by shuttle buses. 2G is used for passengers flying in the Schengen Area (and thus has no passport control) and handles Air France regional and European traffic and provides small-capacity planes (up to 150 passengers) with a faster turnaround time than is currently possible by enabling them to park close to the new terminal building and boarding passengers primarily by bus, or walking. Its bus connection is outside the security area and a security check is needed also for transfer passengers. At least 20 minutes must be planned as time when getting from another terminal to the 2G departure area.

Future use of Terminal 2 by Air France constantly evolves thanks to the development and opening of the S3 complex and the new 2G section of Terminal 2. On 30 March 2008, the reopening of Terminal 2E was completed, allowing maximum passenger activity and full airport services. Air France operations are now concentrated at Terminals 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F and 2G and it has ceased operating from Terminals 2A and 2B.

Future

The satellite S4, adjacent to the S3 and part of terminal 2E, is scheduled to be opened in the third quarter of 2012. Dedicated to long-haul flights, it will be able to handle 16 aircraft at the same time, with an expected capacity of 7.8 million passengers per year. Its opening will allow the movement all Skyteam airlines to terminals 2E, 2F, 2G, to restrict terminal 2F to Schengen area flights, and a closure of terminal 2B for renovation works.^[12]

To facilitate transfers, paths in the restricted area between terminals 2A and 2C, and between terminals 2E and 2F, are planned to open in the second and third quarters of 2012. Once terminal 2B reopens, terminal 2D will be closed for a complete restructuration.^[12] EasyJet has shown their interest into being the only airline operating at terminal 2B at that time.^[13]

Terminal 3

Terminal 3 has a single hall. It is located 1 km (0.62 mi) from Terminal 1, but the walking path is 3 km (1.9 mi) long. The RER and CDGVAL trains are at a distance of 300 m (980 ft) on foot.

Roissypôle

Roissypôle is a complex consisting of office buildings, shopping areas, and hotels within Charles de Gaulle Airport. The complex includes the head office of Air France,^[14] Continental Square,^[15] the Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport,^[16] and le Dôme building. Le Dôme includes the head office of Air France Consulting, an Air France subsidiary.^[17] Continental Square has the head office of XL Airways France,^[18] the head office of Air France subsidiary Servair^[19] and the Air France Vaccinations Centre.^[20]

Airlines and destinations

In addition to the scheduled airlines above, Charles de Gaulle Airport is used by some further airlines for chartered flights, including:

Cargo

Statistics

Ground transportation

Rail

CDG is connected to Paris, as well as the rest of France and Europe by both the RER, Paris' suburban rail network, and the TGV high-speed national rail network.^[28][29][30]

RER

CDG airport is connected to Paris by the RER B suburban route (9,10 € in 2011). In off-peak hours and during the weekend, there are two types of services: 4 times per hour to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse calling at all stations to Cité Universitaire, then Bourg-la-Reine, La Croix de Berny, Antony, Massy – Palaiseau and then all stations to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse and 4 times per hour to Massy–Palaiseau (on the Saint-Rémy line), express until Gare du Nord and then all stations to Massy–Palaiseau. The fast services take about 30 minutes to the Gare du Nord, the stopping services about 35. There are two RER B stations inside the airport:

• one, called Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 1, is located inside Roissypôle (an area with hotels and company offices) next to Terminal 3 and is the preferred way to access Terminals 1 and 3;
• the other, called Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 – TGV, is located beside the TGV station under Terminal 2.

RER B both serves CDG airport (with a travelling clientele) as well as northern suburbs of Paris. The line, operated by SNCF, suffers from slowness and saturation. For these reasons, French authorities have started two projects: one, CDG Express,^[31] is supposed to link CDG to Paris Gare de l'Est from 2016 with trains specifically designed for air travellers, but seems to be in stand-by; the other, RER B Nord Plus,^[32] will modernise and streamline the northern branches of RER B.

TGV

Terminal 2 includes a TGV station on the LGV Interconnexion Est high-speed line. SNCF operates direct TGV services to several French stations from CDG, including Le Havre, Lille, Strasbourg, Dijon, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Poitiers, Rennes, as well as services to Brussels in Belgium.

Bus

Roissybus, operated by the RATP, departs from terminals 1 and 2 and goes non-stop to Paris, terminating behind the Palais Garnier (10 € in 2011).

There is a bus and coach station in Roissypôle, next to the RER B station. Buses departing from this station include RATP lines 350 and 351 going to Paris and the bus going to the Parc Astérix.

Air France operates "Les Cars Air France" to several destinations: Place de l'Etoile (15 € in 2011), Porte Maillot, Gare Montparnasse, Gare de Lyon, or Paris-Orly.^[33]

After the last RER B of 23:56, the Noctilien night bus N143 and N140 departs every half hour and hour respectively from terminal 1 door D12, terminal 2F door 2 and Roissypôle at Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 1 (4 Paris ticket "t" in 2011).

Car

Charles de Gaulle Airport is directly connected to Autoroute A1 which connects Paris and Lille.

Alternative airports

The two other airports serving Paris are Orly Airport (the most important after CDG) and Le Bourget Airport (for general aviation and private jets). Some low-cost airlines also advertise Beauvais-Tillé Airport as serving Paris, using the name Paris-Beauvais to designate it.

Accidents and incidents

• On 1 June 2009, an A330-200, Air France Flight 447, departed Rio de Janeiro-Galeão for Charles de Gaulle. The plane's computers transmitted messages stating that it had experienced various failures. Wreckage of the aircraft was found 370 miles off the coast of Brazil on 2 June 2009; all 228 people on board were presumed dead.^[34]
• On 2 August 2005, an A340-300, Air France Flight 358 from Charles de Gaulle to Toronto Pearson International Airport, made a successful landing during a thunderstorm but overran the runway crashing in a gully; all 309 passengers including crew members survived the crash.
• On 3 January 2004: Flash Airlines Flight 604, bound for CDG, crashed into the Red Sea.
• On 25 July 2000, a Concorde, Air France Flight 4590 from Charles de Gaulle to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, crashed into Les Relais Bleus Hotel in Gonesse, killing everyone on the aircraft and four people on the ground. Investigations concluded that a tyre burst on take-off due to metal left on the runway from a previously departing aircraft. Concorde was conducting a charter flight for a German tour company.
• On 25 May 2000, a freight-carrying Short SH36 (operated as Streamline flight 200), departing to Luton, England, collided on the runway with departing Air Liberte flight 8807, an MD-83 jet. The first officer of the SH36 was killed when the wing tip of the MD-83 tore through his side of the flight deck. The captain was slightly injured and all others aboard survived.
• On 17 July 1996, TWA Flight 800, bound for CDG from JFK International Airport in New York City, exploded off the coast of Long Island 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 230 passengers and crew on board.
• On 19 September 1989, UTA Flight 772 bound for CDG from Brazzaville-N'Djamena, crashed when a bomb placed inside luggage exploded.
• On 27 November 1983 Avianca Flight 011, bound from CDG to Bogotá via Madrid, crashed near Madrid.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri

On 26 August 1988, Mehran Karimi Nasseri found himself held at Charles de Gaulle airport by immigration. He claimed he was a refugee, but had had his refugee papers stolen. After years of bureaucratic wrangling, it was concluded that Nasseri had entered the airport legally and could not be expelled from its walls, but since he had no papers, there was no country to deport him to, leaving him in residential limbo. Nasseri continued to live within the confines of the airport until 2006, even though French authorities had since made it possible for him to leave if he so wished.^[35] Nasseri was the possible inspiration for the 2004 film The Terminal. In July 2006 he was hospitalised and later taken care of by charities; he did not return to the airport.

In popular culture

• The video of the U2 song "Beautiful Day" is entirely set at the airport, featuring some of the dramatic architecture. The band also plays on the runway with, apparently, jumbo jets taking off and landing just above. Both Air France and MEA make a cameo in the video. The cover photo for their album All That You Can't Leave Behind was also taken at the airport.
• The airport tarmac was used in the Disneyland Resort Paris attraction film The Timekeeper (Le Visionarium), featuring an Air France Concorde and a Union des Transports Aériens McDonnell Douglas DC-10.
• Many scenes were filmed at the airport for the film The Concorde ... Airport '79.
• The distinctive escalator tubes of Terminal 1 are featured in the films Private Benjamin and French Kiss and are used as the backdrop of the album cover for I Robot by The Alan Parsons Project.
• The check-in area of Terminal 2F is a favourite film location for French directors and can frequently be seen in French films that require an airport location.
• The film Décalage Horaire (Jet Lag) is set primarily at the airport and a nearby hotel.
• The movie Frantic features a scene in terminal one when Harrison Ford and Emmanuelle Seigner pick up lost baggage.
• The movie Rush Hour 3 features Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker arriving at Terminal 2F

Photography restrictions

On 7 November 2005, prefectoral decision 05-4979 was issued, relating specifically to Charles de Gaulle airport. The article 32-5 prohibits photographs being taken for private use of anything moving (e.g. aircraft) or not moving (e.g. buildings) within the "zone reservée" (the restricted area) from the "zone publique" (the public area).^[36]

Animals

The grassy lands on which the airport is located are notorious for rabbits and hares, which can be seen by passengers at certain times of the day. The airport organises periodic hunts and captures to keep the population to manageable levels.^[37]

See also

• Transportation in France
• List of airports in France

Notes and references

External links

General

• Aéroports de Paris (official website) (English)
• Aéroport de Paris Charles de Gaulle (Union des Aéroports Français) (French)
• Accident history for CDG at Aviation Safety Network

Collapse of Terminal 2E

• Official report of the administrative enquiry commission (French)
• Photos of Terminal 2E before and after the collapse and during reconstruction