Aéroports de Paris to conduct major modernisation project at Paris Orly Airport

France's Aéroports de Paris (AdP) and Paris-Orly Airport presented (17-Oct-2012) a major modernisation project for Paris-Orly Airport, planned as part of the Horizon 2018 initiative. Paris-Orly Airport has already been the subject of several development projects in recent years ahead of this larger six-year renovation programme. Details include:

• Project details: This project will result in the unification of the two existing terminals, Orly South and Orly West, the construction of a brand new international departure lounge and the complete redevelopment of all the terminal entrances, amounting to 100,000sqm of new reception areas for passengers. By 2018, passengers will have a single terminal and three departure lounges at their disposal. Combining Orly South and Orly West is this project's flagship development. This building, to be commissioned by 2018, will alone provide 80,000sqm of new passenger welcome areas. Meanwhile, 10 remote aircraft stands will be replaced by contact stands directly connected to the departure lounges;
• Traffic: The number of national flights has fallen and the percentage of flights outside France has risen from 14% in 2000 to 28% in 2012. The project is fully compliant with the regulatory framework governing air traffic within the airport. It will not jeopardise the curfew in place nor the cap on the number of aircraft operations;
• Investment: AdP will invest between EUR400 million and EUR450 million in the project;
• Timeline: By 2015, the date of commissioning, 80% of the international passengers using the South Terminal will be welcomed into a new 20,000sqm international departure lounge, located to the east of the South Terminal;
• Security baggage functions: In order to streamline checking procedures (security, border control), the number of checkpoints will be increased. The baggage reclaim area will benefit from the installation of a third baggage carousel;
• Exterior upgrades: In order to make accessibility to the two terminals more fluid, AdP will completely redevelop the terminal entrances between 2013 and 2014. Thus, a new urban space, with quality facilities and rebalanced road and pedestrian areas will be created. For example, the footpaths will be enlarged, increasing from 6m to 17m. A drop-off area will also be created outside the West Terminal;
• Employment: This major construction project will, over the course of the six years, create 750 full-time jobs. Once the developments are complete, almost 5000 jobs will be directly created within the airport over time. [more - original PR]