One day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, transportation in much of the French capital is beginning to wind down – with the prospect of chaos on Friday and over the weekend.
Eleven key Métro and RER (suburban rail) stations in the central area are already closed, including those serving the Eiffel Tower, the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysees.
Road closures for the massive security operation surrounding Friday’s opening ceremony are expected to cause chaos.
A system of passes for vehicles – as well, in some areas, cyclists and pedestrians – is in place.
The French transport minister, Patrice Vergriete, told the news channel BFM: “After 10 am [on 25 July], we no longer guarantee anything.”
Key tourist attractions, including the Louvre, are closed for the day.
The final weekend of July is traditionally a time when many Parisians depart en vacancies or arrive back from holidays by road. Together with closures beyond central Paris for events such as cycling, marathons and triathlons, the transport ministry is warning that the weekend and subsequent days before the end of the Games on 11 August will be “strongly impacted”.
The biggest effect, though, will be the unprecedented closure of the three Paris airports on Friday from late afternoon.
An area of northern France the size of Belgium is closed for five hours to all but official and emergency flights.
Almost all planes will be banned from a circle with a radius of 80 nautical miles centred on Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris from 6.30pm to midnight, local time.
The no-fly zone has been imposed due to fears of a terrorist attack. Normally the final Friday of July would be one of the busiest days of the year for aviation.
The Zone d’Interdiction Temporaire (ZIT) includes both the giant Paris airports – Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Orly – as well as Beauvais, a key budget airline base north of the capital. Normally the three would handle more than 350,000 passengers between them on a peak summer Friday.
The DGAC says: “A temporary prohibited area (ZIT Ceremonie) is created to ensure the implementation of the special air security arrangements as part of the protection of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games 2024.”
Flights by military, customs, police, gendarmerie, civil security or emergency aircraft will be allowed in the area, along with “aircraft in charge of filming for the 2024 Olympic Games” and flights carrying dignitaries accredited by the French foreign ministry.
EasyJet alone has cancelled almost 100 flights to and from the key airports in the French capital during the event.
A spokesperson for the airline told The Independent: “Like all airlines operating to and from Paris, easyJet has been requested to reduce its flying programme for duration of the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony on Friday 26 July 2024.
“This resulted in the cancellation of 96 flights at both Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly.”
Air France has grounded hundreds more.
The last flight to land is expected to be an Air France flight from Edinburgh to Paris CDG, due to arrive at the gate at 5.10pm. After that the skies will close.
Besides arrivals and departures from CDG, Orly and Beauvais, many other flights will need to detour around the closed airspace, either over western France or Belgium, adding to the already severe pressure on European skies.
Routes that would normally pass straight over Paris include Bristol to Milan, Edinburgh to Marseille and London Heathrow or Manchester to Nice.
The first departure from the UK to Paris after the airspace opens is believed to be the 5.55am from Manchester to CDG on Saturday morning.