Charles de Gaulle International Airport

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Charles de Gaulle International Airport
Aéroport Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle
Roissy Airport

Image:Charlesdegaulleairportaerial.jpg

IATA: CDG – ICAO: LFPG
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Aéroports de Paris
Location near Paris
Elevation AMSL 392 ft / 119 m
Coordinates 49°00′46″N 02°33′00″E / 49.01278, 2.55
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
08L/26R 13,829 4,215 Asphalt
08R/26L 8,858 2,700 Concrete
09L/27R 8,858 2,700 Asphalt
09R/27L 13,780 4,200 Asphalt

Charles de Gaulle International Airport (IATA: CDG, ICAO: LFPG) (French: Aéroport Roissy-Charles de Gaulle), also known as Roissy Airport (or just Roissy in French), in Paris, is one of world's principal aviation centres, as well as France's main international 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, including Roissy, 25 km to the north-east of Paris.

In 2006, Charles de Gaulle Airport was number one in terms of plane movements in Europe with 541,566 landings and take offs [1], above Frankfurt International Airport (489,406) and Heathrow (477,029). In terms of cargo traffic, Charles de Gaulle Airport was also number one in Europe with 2,130,724 tonnes (2,348,721 US tons)[2], just above Frankfurt (2,127,646 tonnes), and above Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (1,566,828 tonnes) and Heathrow (1,343,930 tonnes). In terms of passenger traffic Charles de Gaulle Airport ranked second in Europe with 56,849,567 passengers [3], behind London Heathrow Airport (67,530,197), and above Frankfurt International Airport (52,810,683).

CDG is connected to the RER urban rail network, providing services into central Paris three to four times per hour, and the high-speed rail TGV network. SNCF French Rail operates direct TGV services to several French stations from CDG, including Angers, Avignon, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Le Mans, Lille, Lyon, Marseilles, Montpellier, Nantes, Nîmes, Poitiers, Rennes, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Tours, and Valence.

The three other international airports serving Paris are Orly Airport, the most important after CDG, Paris-Beauvais-Tillé Airport, which mainly serves low-cost airlines, and Paris - Le Bourget Airport for General aviation (business jets).

Contents

[edit] Geography

Charles de Gaulle Airport extends over 32.38 km² (12.5 sq miles) 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 seven communes:

Management of the airport is solely under the authority of Aéroports de Paris, which also manages Orly International Airport, Le Bourget Airport, and several smaller airports in the suburbs of Paris.

[edit] History

The planning and construction phase of what was known back then as Aéroport de Paris Nord (Paris North Airport) began in 1966. On March 8, 1974, the airport, renamed Charles de Gaulle International Airport, began service. Terminal 1 was built to an avant-garde design consisting of a ten-floor 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.

The grassy lands on which the airport is located are notorious for hosting a large population of rabbits and hares, which can clearly be seen by aeroplane passengers at certain times of the day. The airport organizes periodic hunts and captures to keep the population to manageable levels. [4]

[edit] Corporate identity

Image:Aeroports de Paris logo.svg
The new logo of Aéroports de Paris used since 6 June 2005
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 P.A. announcement made at Terminal 1 was preceded by a distinctive chime, nicknamed "Indicatif Roissy" and composed by Bernard Parmegiani in 1971. (Audio sample)

[edit] 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 either, leaving him in residential limbo. Nasseri continued to live within the confines of the airport until August 2006, even though French authorities have since made it possible for him to leave if he so wished. He was the inspiration for the 2004 film The Terminal. He was hospitalised in August 2006 and his current location is unknown.

[edit] 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.[1] The Chinese government reported that two of the dead were Chinese travellers, and another of the dead was reported to be of Czech nationality. 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 September 28, 2004.

Before this accident, ADP had been planning for a public stock 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 could 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 enquiry 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 enquiry 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 March 17, 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 [5]. The reconstruction will replace the innovative concrete tube style of the jetty with a more traditional steel and glass structure. Construction will be completed by summer 2008, in the meantime two temporary departure lounges have been constructed in the vicinity of the terminal that replicate the capacity of 2E before the collapse.

[edit] Incidents

On 19 September 1989, UTA Flight 772 exploded over the Sahara Desert while on the second leg of the Brazzaville-Ndjamena-Paris route, killing all on board.

On 17 July, 1996, TWA Flight 800, which was bound for Charles de Gaulle International Airport from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, exploded near Long Island.

On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde bound from Charles de Gaulle Airport for JFK crashed into the nearby hotel of Hotelissimo in Gonesse after coming in contact with material that had been left by another plane on the runway. The Concorde was on a German charter flight for a tour company. Everyone on board died, as did four people on the ground.

On 22 December, 2001, an Al-Qaida terrorist named Richard Reid tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes onboard American Airlines Flight 63, which was headed from Charles de Gaulle to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida. He was subdued after a passenger smelled sulphur.

[edit] Terminals

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Image:CharlesDeGaulle2F.jpg
Terminal 2 Hall F. Wide open spaces characterise Terminal 2.

Charles de Gaulle International Airport has three terminals. Terminal 1 (49°00′50″N 2°32′31″E / 49.013984, 2.541850) is the oldest. Terminal 2 (49°00′16″N 2°34′37″E / 49.004391, 2.576822) was built for Air France, but now hosts other airlines as well. The third terminal (T3, formerly T9) hosts charter and low cost airlines, such as easyJet.

Terminal 2 is actually not really a terminal, but rather a name applied to six connected but distinct "halls", each given a letter from A to F. In other airports, such as JFK or LAX, these "halls" would simply be called terminals, so that Charles de Gaulle International Airport can be more properly described as having eight terminals altogether. When landing at or taking off from Charles de Gaulle International Airport, one should always know precisely which of the eight terminals/halls the plane arrives at or departs from, as these can be located quite far apart from each other. The eight terminals/halls are indicated distinctly on plane tickets: 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 3.

The six halls at Terminal 2, the newest part of the airport, have their own RER and TGV station underneath. Passengers may reach trains going to Paris or to other French and foreign cities by going through passages and moving walkways.

In 2006, the French government expressed the wish to designate certain terminals of French airports as "high-security" terminals that would handle flights to sensitive locations, such as the US and Israel. Terminal 2E is planned to be the high security terminal at CDG with the installation of more rigorous security controls planned during the course of 2007. At the start of the Winter timetable in 2006, Air France moved most of its flights to the US to 2E.

Image:CDG2F P4160059.JPG
FIDS at Charles de Gaulle International Airport

The RER station for Terminal 1 (49°00′36″N 2°33′35″E / 49.010083, 2.559757) is quite distant from Terminal 1, and this terminal must, in fact, be reached using the free CDGVAL automatic light rail system (VAL); previously, shuttle buses were used. Started on April 4, 2007, CDGVAL links all the three terminals, though as there is only a single station for Terminal 2, passengers have to walk long distances from the CDGVAL station to the more distant halls such as 2B.

[edit] Expansion plans

Apart from the reconstruction of Terminal 2E, two major terminal extensions are underway as of 2007.

The construction of Satellite 3 (or S3) to the immediate east of Terminals 2E and 2F will provide further jetways for large capacity airliners, and specifically the Airbus 380. Check-in and baggage handling will be provided by the existing infrastructure in Terminals 2E and 2F. Satellite 3, whose construction can be seen by arriving passengers at Terminals 2E and 2F, is scheduled to open in the first half of 2008. A further Satellite 4 is planned to open in 2012 to provide additional capacity, again relying on the check-in and baggage handling infrastructure of 2E and 2F.

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. It will be connected to the Terminal 2 complex by shuttle buses and eventually an extension of the CDGVAL shuttle train service due to open in Spring 2007. 2G will be a Schengen terminal (and thus have no customs control) and will handle Air France regional and European traffic and provide small capacity planes (up to 150 passengers) with a faster turn-around time than is currently possible by enabling them to park close to the new terminal building and boarding passengers primarily by bus. Opening is planned for the Winter season of 2008.

A giant new Boarding Complex, known as S3, opened on June 27, 2007. This facility, built in collaboration with Air France-KLM, will open in phases and will be fully operational by the end of the year. The center should provide relief to millions of passengers who must now endure annoying and lengthy bus rides to board and disembark from flights. It should also mean faster transfer times to connecting flights and fewer lost bags.[2]

Future use of Terminal 2 by Air France will change during the development and opening of the S3 complex and the new 2G section of Terminal 2. In Winter 2007, the S3 complex will be fully operational and around April 2008 the reconstruction of 2E will be completed allowing maximum passenger activity and full airport services. Air France will begin to shift traffic to use Terminal 2C,2D,2E,2F and eventually cease operations from terminals 2A and 2B which will continue to be used by other carriers.

[edit] Ground transportation

CDG airport is connected to Paris by the RER B suburban train, offering both non-stop services (going directly from the airport to Paris Gare du Nord and beyond) and services stopping at intermediate stations. The faster trains take about 30 minutes to the Gare du Nord, the stopping trains about 35. There are two RER B stations inside the airport:

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

Terminal 2 includes a TGV station with high-speed trains connecting to various destinations in France and via Lille Europe to Brussels. The direct Thalys service between the airport and Brussels Midi was withdrawn in 2007.

Terminals 1, 2, the Roissypôle / Terminal 3 RER station, and parking lots PX and PR are connected by the free CDGVAL automatic shuttle. CDGVAL replaces free shuttle buses.

Roissybus, operated by RATP, departs from terminals 1 and 2 and goes non-stop to Paris, behind the Opéra Garnier.

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.

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 (opening between 2012 and 2015), will link CDG to Paris Gare de l'Est with trains specifically designed for air travellers; the other, RER B Nord Plus, will modernize and streamline the northern branches of RER B.

[edit] Other facts of interest

[edit] Appearances in films

  • 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.

[edit] Photography restrictions

On November 7 2005, prefectoral decision 05-4979 was issued, relating specifically to Charles de Gaulle airport. The law 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).

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Terminal 1

Image:Terminal 1 of CDG Airport.jpg
Aerial view of Terminal 1
Image:Airport cdg t1 h20.jpg
Terminal 1 old check in point
Image:Airport cdg t1 h4.jpg
Terminal 1 new check-in

[edit] Terminal 2

[edit] Hall A (Terminal 2A)

[edit] Hall B (Terminal 2B)

[edit] Hall C (Terminal 2C)

[edit] Hall D (Terminal 2D)

[edit] Hall E (Terminal 2E)

  • Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
  • Air France (Atlanta, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Chicago-O'Hare, Detroit, Djibouti, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston-Intercontinental, Istanbul-Atatürk, Libreville, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, New York-JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Santiago, Singapore, St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Washington-Dulles, Yerevan)
  • Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City [begins June 2, 2008])
  • Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul [begins April 8, 2008])

[edit] Hall F (Terminal 2F)

  • Air France (Amsterdam, Bangalore, Bangui, Barcelona, Beirut, Biarritz, Bogota, Bordeaux, Casablanca, Chennai, Conakry, Damascus, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Geneva, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Lagos, London-Heathrow, Luanda, Lyon, Madrid, Malabo, Manchester, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Montréal, N'Djamena, Nantes, Nice, Nouakchott, Osaka-Kansai, Pointe-à-Pitre, Pointe Noire, Port Harcourt, Riyadh, Rome-Fiumicino, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Tehran-Imam Khomeini, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson, Toulouse, Tunis, Venice)
  • Alitalia (Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino)
  • China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)
  • Japan Airlines (Nagoya-Centrair, Tokyo-Narita)
  • Kenya Airways (Nairobi)
  • KLM (Amsterdam)
  • Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
  • Middle East Airlines (Beirut)

[edit] Terminal 3 (formerly T9)

[edit] Cargo airlines

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ "'Fresh cracks' at Paris airport", BBC News, 24 May 2004. 
  2. ^ Fixing de Gaulle Will Lift Air France-KLM. businessweek.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.

[edit] External links

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