Celebrating 40 years of its existence in 2014, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, over the years, has been punctuated by the increase in traffic and the sector’s innovations, such as new aircraft, new transport concepts including low cost airlines, and the setting up of the Air France hub.
As a result, Paris-Charles de Gaulle has witnessed continuous growth in passenger numbers, with nearly 1.27 billion passengers travelling through the airport since its opening. This incredible growth in traffic has been possible thanks to a sustained effort to adapt and increase capacities, in particular via the construction of new terminals and the implementation of a new, highly-efficient four-runway system, with one pair of runways to the north and the other pair to the south of the airport.
Over 180 airlines are now serving Paris-Charles de Gaulle. The airport’s Terminal 1 is home to Star Alliance member airlines, while Terminal 2 brings together airlines belonging to OneWorld and SkyTeam.
The airport has a maximum capacity of close to 80 million passengers and a very high-performance hub offering every week up to 25,000 connecting flight possibilities within two hours of a passenger’s arrival. Paris-Charles de Gaulle now has the capacity to cope with the growth in traffic for the next 10 years, without requiring any further major new infrastructure. Despite the impact of potential economic downturns, annual traffic growth worldwide is expected to rise by about 3-5 percent per annum over the next 20 years.
“The development of Charles de Gaulle Airport has gone through several stages; speeding up dramatically over the last 15 years. The Paris hub has been redesigned and is now more competitive. Passengers, business travelers in particular, find that the airport has improved considerably,” said Frank Goldnadel, managing director,Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in a statement.
The airport is also Europe’s leading freight and postal hub having handled 2.2 million tonnes of freight and mail in 2013. With 300 hectares of land and some 600,000 sqm dedicated to cargo activities, Paris Charles de Gaulle is the European hub for FedEx, Air France Cargo and La Poste. It is also a base for major forwarding agents and handlers: Bolloré Logistics, WFS, Kuehne+Nagel, among others.
Also a multimodal hub, the airport houses a TGV high-speed train station and two RER B train stations in addition to over 40 bus routes converging on the airport.Early 2014, the Minister Delegate for Transport Frederic Cuvillier revived the CDG Express project for a non-stop rail link between the airport and the centre of Paris, the commissioning of which is planned for 2023.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, which has nearly 42,000 sqm of retail floorspace with a strong emphasis on the French art de vivre, houses iconic brands and boasts of selling 600,000 Eiffel Tower souvenirs, 1 million bottles of wine, 400,000 bottles of champagne and 250,000 units of foie gras every year.
Alongside its rapid expansion, the airport has boosted economic growth and fostered the setting up of a large number of companies, making Paris-Charles de Gaulle a driving force in the economy and employment at both the regional and national levels.
With the number of airline passengers set to double worldwide in the next 20 years, the role of Paris-Charles de Gaulle, the main gateway to France and Europe, is now, more than ever, to welcome the world. The challenges ahead must enable the airport to consolidate its position and increase its attractiveness through flawless service to both airlines and passengers.