The song of birds has largely replaced the noise of airplanes in Orly (Val-de-Marne) and its surroundings. The Covid-19 pandemic explains this change, as it caused a drop in passenger air traffic. This results in the cessation, this Tuesday evening, of this major branch of activity at the airport in southern Paris.
Monday, only 20 aircraft movements and a thousand passengers were recorded against 600 movements and 90,000 passengers for an ordinary day at the centenary airport.
At 11.59pm this Tuesday evening, it closes its doors and the handful of companies which still operate there (four out of more than a hundred) are transferred to Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG), itself heavily affected by the crisis. . This Roissy airport could handle around 10,000 people a day, compared to 200,000 normally.
A year ago, Orly, which has existed since 1918, inaugurated with great fanfare 80,000 m² of new installations intended to absorb the growth of air traffic, with the prospect of doubling traffic in 20 years. Now, for an indefinite period, the one who welcomed 32 million passengers in 2019, will only see state flights, medical flights and emergency diversions. The control tower will remain active.
80% drop in traffic in Europe
Contrasting with its usual strong activity, a little more than 80 planes are now immobilized on the Orly storage areas, a taxiway, a maintenance area and a concrete runway. The sensitive areas of devices, such as engines or Pitot probes that measure the pressure experienced by the airplane in flight, are protected. A storage plan has been drawn up based in particular on the need to move the devices for maintenance. In terms of shops, more than a hundred shops, bars and restaurants had to lower the curtain. The Red Cross has taken care of the homeless people who live in the airport.
For Thomas Juin, the president of the French Airports Union (UAF), in the absence of revenue, the airports are "in protection mode" with a reduction of all charges to the maximum. With travel restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus, air traffic in Europe has dropped by almost 80%, according to figures released last week by the International Air Transport Association (Iata). Air France, the main client of Aéroports de Paris, now offers only 10% of its usual offer. For most platforms, traffic currently boils down to repatriation flights and medical flights.
Recovery looks very difficult
Roissy and the main regional airports still accept commercial flights. But around forty platforms have or will close by the end of the week their activity in commercial traffic, explains Thomas Juin. Some will maintain an airside activity to ensure flights of general interest (civil security, medical evacuations, surveillance helicopters). Others are completely closed but can reopen on request with one or two hours' notice to accommodate specific flights. The recovery will be “slow, gradual, even feverish”.
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