Several helicopters will fly over Paris this week

From Wednesday until Tuesday, Parisians may hear and see helicopters over the capital. "Several overflights" are planned "between June 7 and 13," said the police prefecture in a statement.

So today, from 13 p.m. to 16 p.m., "four helicopters of the Air Force will fly, in turn, over the sector between La Défense and the Arc de Triomphe" at more than 700 m high, in order to make a reconnaissance of "the axis of the aerial parade of July 14".

On the other hand, test flights and shots will be organized from Wednesday to Tuesday next for the 2024 Olympic Games, with helicopters, but also the help of planes and motorcycles. These overflights will take place above 450 m altitude, between 10 a.m. and 16:30 p.m., but also between 21 p.m. and 22:45 p.m. on June 9 and 10.

"The magnitude of these overflights will remain unusual"

The company OBS (Olympic Broadcasting Services), in charge of producing the images of this event, wants to "check the proper functioning of the radio transmission channels between the helicopters and the reception stations on the ground", but also define the angles of view and make tests of "shooting of the Olympic sites and the main Parisian monuments".

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The sites that will be used during the Olympic Games will be affected by these overflights: the Eiffel Tower area, the Trocadero, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Invalides, the Sacré-Cœur, the Moulin Rouge, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the Rue de Rivoli, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Accor Arena, the Chapelle Arena, Roland Garros, the Parc des Princes and the "race routes that cross Paris and the Paris region".

"Although the minimization of nuisance for local residents is constantly sought, the extent of these overflights will nevertheless remain unusual," says the prefecture.

These authorizations are made public because they are exceptional and require authorizations. Indeed, as the prefecture of police recalls, "flying over Paris is prohibited" in normal times.