The Paris hubs symbolise the image of the country's capital. Today, while this concern is central to the strategy of A\u00e9roports de Paris (ADP), the operator of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget airports, the notion of services has not always been at the forefront, whereas elsewhere in Europe it has long been de rigueur.<\/p>\n
Things have started to change since Pierre Graff took over as head of ADP in 2003. His ambition is to make Paris Europe's leading airport, with the most modern facilities on the Old Continent. To achieve this, new terminals had to be built, others renovated, and the quality of all local services improved...<\/p>\n
This facelift, which has begun in small stages, will mainly take place between 2006 and 2010. It will cost more than \u20ac2 billion over this period. This is the whole point of last year's transition from a public establishment to a limited company. This change in status will enable the company to go public when the time comes, as announced by the Prime Minister, via a capital increase needed to finance its investments. And change the face of Paris airports.<\/p>\n
Europe's second-largest airport, behind London Heathrow, with almost 55 million passengers a year, Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) is the airport where the biggest changes will take place. Roissy and its three terminals CDG1, CDG2 (subdivided into six entities CDG 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E and 2F) and CDG3, which will be linked together in autumn 2006 by an automatic metro, will in fact change face over the next three years.<\/p>\n
By the end of 2008, ADP will have resolved its under-capacity problems, which, in the eyes of today's passengers, overshadow the initial efforts to improve services. Not least because of the closure of the CDG 2E boarding area since part of its roof collapsed in May 2004. As a result, there is not enough space at Roissy to properly accommodate passengers, as traffic increases - it is expected to grow by at least 3.5 % per year between now and 2010. Although the rapid construction of two temporary boarding lounges in terminal 2E after the accident helped to limit the damage, the fact remains that the airport's capacity is 47.1 million passengers a year for traffic of almost 53 million. As a result, some terminals are overcrowded at certain times of the day, leading to long queues at check-in, police and screening checkpoints, as at CDG 2A and 2B. This is a major inconvenience for passengers, even though fluidity in the terminal is one of their main requirements. In addition, the contact rate for passengers at Paris-CDG2 airport - which determines bus transfers before boarding the plane or after alighting - has fallen by five points.<\/p>\n
But the situation is set to improve considerably. In spring 2007, a new boarding area, the S3 satellite, will provide a breath of fresh air. With a capacity of 8 million passengers a year, S3 will be connected to terminals 2E by a small internal metro and 2F via a pedestrian gallery. It will be reserved for Air France and its Skyteam alliance partners, as will terminals 2E and 2F.<\/p>\n
In fact, this is where a large proportion of the ten giant Airbus A380s ordered by the French airline will be positioned, the first of which will be delivered in April 2008. At the same time, terminal 2E will be fully reopened, enabling Air France and its partners to concentrate their operations at CDG 2F, 2E and S3. The airline will continue to operate flights at CDG 2D and 2C, but will leave terminals 2A and 2B, freeing up space for other carriers. A regional terminal, 2G, will also be opened in 2008 for Air France. With a capacity of 3 million passengers a year, it will be designed for short-haul flights to destinations in the Schengen area, and will offer a simplified check-in procedure: adjacent car park, self-service check-in kiosks, check-in time reduced to 15 minutes, etc.<\/p>\n
Renovation work on terminal 1 will be completed by the end of 2008. Reserved mainly for Star Alliance member airlines (Lufthansa, United Airlines, etc.), \"CDG1 will be able to handle 12 million passengers a year, compared with just under 10 million before work began in April 2004 and 7.5 million during the renovation phase\", explains ADP CEO Pierre Graff. Opened in January this year, the first phase of the renovation gives a positive idea of what this terminal will become in terms of fluidity and comfort. While terminal 3, used by low-cost and charter airlines, was renovated at the end of 2001, the oldest terminals at CDG 2 (2A and 2B) still have to be given a makeover.<\/p>\n
Solving these problems of under-capacity by building modern facilities will complement all the measures taken since 2003 to improve passenger reception. Last year, ADP even drew up a charter entitled \"Customer Destinations\" in which the company undertook to improve local services in twelve areas by the end of 2006. In terms of services, all Roissy terminals are already equipped with wi-fi technology. For those who do not have access to the airlines' lounges, ADP is gradually setting up free workspaces with power sockets and wi-fi connections, as is the case in the renovated part of CDG 1. In addition, in the boarding areas, passengers will be able to hire complete office spaces (computer, ultra-fast ADSL connection, printer, etc.). At the same time, Internet terminals and sockets for recharging mobile phones will be installed. As part of its drive to improve user-friendliness, ADP is rolling out its Aeo airport television channel, launched in 2004, to all Roissy terminals. The channel broadcasts practical information (timetables, bad weather, flight cancellations, etc.), as well as general and economic news, sports news, etc. In terms of comfort, all baggage trolleys have been replaced (they are easier to handle), as have all the seats in the boarding areas. This concern for renovation is reflected in the policy of extending the commercial areas, particularly the shops, which are currently less developed than in London, for example.<\/p>\n
In parallel with ADP's efforts, airlines are innovating to improve their ground services by taking full advantage of the possibilities offered by new technologies. To save passengers time, airlines are speeding up the deployment of self-service kiosks for faster automatic check-in. Air France has even launched automatic baggage check-in at CDG 2F. This service will be extended to all its long-haul flights by the end of the year. In the renovated part of Roissy 1, kiosks featuring several Star Alliance members have also been installed. The same applies to the other terminals, where other airlines such as Air Canada (at CDG 2A) and British Airways (at CDG 2B) have this type of service. Air France also plans to create self-service kiosks for connecting flights. And it is studying the launch of a faster boarding system to avoid queuing. \"As with the metro, you validate your boarding pass yourself and an automatic door opens to allow access to the gangway leading to the aircraft\", explains Pascal de Izaguirre, General Manager in charge of ground operations at the airline.<\/p>\n
All these efforts will remain limited if nothing is done to improve passage through the police checkpoints and inspection-screening posts. The solution could lie in biometrics. The Pegase card, which has been on trial for a year since May 2005 at terminal 2F for (voluntary) passengers who are citizens of the European Union, allows passengers to avoid queues at the traditional checkpoint by passing through a biometric gate giving access to the boarding lounge. If the trial is deemed conclusive by the Ministry of the Interior, the system could be extended to all terminals. But this will not be before the end of 2007 at the earliest.<\/p>\n
Unlike Roissy, Orly airport handles far less traffic than its capacity allows. While it can handle at least 450,000 aircraft movements (landings and take-offs) a year, Orly has been limited to 250,000 annual movements since 1994 for environmental reasons. As a result, airlines are forced to introduce larger aircraft, while business customers prefer a greater number of flights on a route, offering a wider choice of timetables. As a result, traffic at Orly stagnated between 2000 and 2005 at nearly 24 million passengers a year.<\/p>\n
Since international airlines, particularly American ones such as American Airlines, left the hub and moved to Roissy at the end of the 90s, Orly's range of services has been limited to French destinations, some European and African ones and, on long-haul routes, to the French overseas departments and territories, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.<\/p>\n
Although growth prospects remain limited - traffic forecasts between 2006 and 2010 indicate an increase of 1.9 % - A\u00e9roports de Paris has decided to renovate Orly. At Orly-Ouest, hall 2 (35 years old), which mainly handles passengers on the Air France shuttle service (Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse), has been undergoing renovation since March 2005. This part of the terminal alone handles six million passengers a year. When it reopens on 31 March, Hall 2 will offer improved check-in processing capacity, while the security and screening checkpoints will be grouped together. Lastly, a single 2600 m2 boarding lounge will be created, where departing passengers will be able to find a wider range of fast food and services. Hall 2 will also be equipped with a new automatic baggage sorting system.<\/p>\n
This refurbishment is part of an overall renovation of Orly-Ouest. The shops area was redeveloped in 2004 and the P0 car park, which is adjacent to the terminal, is being renovated until 2008.<\/p>\n
As for Orly-Sud, the investments mainly concern the redevelopment of the area under customs control, with changes to the passenger flow and the commercial area, which will be extended. This operation will be carried out between 2006 and 2008. For departing passengers, the check-in, identity control and screening circuit will be streamlined and rationalised, thanks to the pooling and grouping of crossing points. Passengers will have access to a much improved range of duty-free shops close to the boarding lounges. For arriving passengers, the extension of the baggage delivery area will significantly reduce waiting times.<\/p>\n
In its drive to improve the quality of service at all its hubs, A\u00e9roports de Paris has not forgotten Le Bourget airport, which has been reserved exclusively for business aviation since 1980, and is now the European leader in this segment in terms of destinations served and number of movements. All the more so as demand from both airlines and major companies was pressing.<\/p>\n
Until now, ADP has rented out land to companies operating at the airport, who have built as they wished. Now, ADP has created a new business terminal at Le Bourget at a cost of \u20ac4 million, and for the first time is offering a complete service (premises, aeronautical areas) to airlines.<\/p>\n
Due to open in March, the new terminal will be home to Belgian company Flying Blue, a leader in business condominium management. With a total surface area of 3,200 m2, this terminal will feature a 400 m2 teak VIP terrace with a view of the runways, a spacious conference room equipped with all the latest communication tools, as well as administrative offices. As for the rest, it is up to the airlines to design their own facilities; as a general rule, they offer services at least equivalent to those offered to first-class customers of scheduled airlines. Examples include Dassault Falcon Service and Signature (used by timeshare specialist NetJets).<\/p>\n
With this new terminal, ADP intends to take the development of the hub back into its own hands with a view to the long term. The first stage consists of renovating existing buildings in order to relocate some of the companies currently using outdated terminals. This was the case in early 2006 for Universal Aviation Services. Then, with 40 hectares of unused land at Le Bourget, ADP will be able to use it for aeronautical companies (Cessna Aviation, Embraer, Air France Industrie, etc.) or business aviation companies (such as Aero Services, Dassault Falcon Services, Unijet, etc.).<\/p>\n
The airport operator intends to invest nearly \u20ac25 million over the next five years in the development of Le Bourget to keep pace with traffic growth. For the past two years, the business aviation market has been recovering. In 2004, Le Bourget recorded 55,000 movements, up 5.8 % on 2003. This represents almost 130,000 passengers. Although growth was more limited in 2005, at around 2 %, ADP nevertheless expects to achieve 60,000 to 70,000 movements in the next ten years. The advantages of business aviation are well established: flexible timetables, punctuality, rapid boarding, the possibility of flying to airports not served by scheduled airlines, which are often closer to the final destination, and the ability to link several flights in a day without constraints (connections that are impossible for scheduled airlines). In short, these are all advantages that boost business productivity. Depending on their needs, companies may own their own fleets of aircraft (IBM has three aircraft based at Le Bourget), or buy part of an aircraft on a timeshare basis in proportion to their annual use (from Netjets, for example), or hire a taxi aircraft for a flight (from AB Corporate or Air Partner, a charter specialist, for example). In the latter case, it is also possible to take out subscriptions. This is the principle adopted by SkyJet International (a Bombardier subsidiary), which sells blocks of flight hours.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"