Airport Guide

History of Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport

Despite several airports already serving the city, Parisian authorities decided to start work on what was at first labelled Paris North Airport in the late 1960s in order to cope with the growing demands of international air travellers.

Building on vast, grassy and largely uninhabited land just north of the city, work began in 1968, with architect Paul Andreu opting for an avant-garde design of one main terminal building surrounded by seven satellite buildings, a design which has largely failed to stand the test of time.

The first flight took off in 1974, by which time the airport had been named after the former leader of the Free French forces and president of the country's Fifth Republic, General Charles de Gaulle.

Over the years several further terminals have been added, with Andreu often having had a hand in their design. The latest, 2G opened in March 2008, while plans are already in place for further expansions to be carried out over the next five years, in particular the improvement of transport facilities across the airport campus and a new terminal specifically for Air France.

Travelling to Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport

Connections between Charles de Gaulle and the centre of Paris are relatively straightforward and efficient.
Regular non-stop services run from the airport to the Gare du Nord, with a journey time of around 30 minutes, while regular coaches travel between a number of bus stations in the centre and some of the better hotels and the principal terminal building.

In addition, a second train station at the airport offers links across the length and breadth of France on the world-famous TGV, with connections also available to a number of cities across Europe, most notably Madrid, Milan and Brussels.

Getting around the airport itself, however, is far from easy and has brought many a happy holiday to a stressful conclusion. While the situation has improved significantly since the CDGVAL automatic light rail system replaced the inefficient shuttle buses in April 2007, passengers nevertheless face some lengthy walks between the mini stations and the terminal buildings, while missing one stop can mean having to stay on the train and waiting for it to complete another lap of the airport campus.

Airlines Flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport

More than 100 airlines fly from Charles de Gaulle, from the likes of Air One which offers a single service to Turin, to the French national carrier Air France, which operates dozens of routes across Europe and the rest of the world.

Understandably, Air France offers the largest number of flights from the principal Paris hub, including routes to the United States, Latin America, the Far East as well as regular shuttles to London Heathrow. A number of smaller subsidiaries operated by the airline also serve British cities, including Bristol, Newcastle, Southampton and Dublin.

Given the cost of landing fees in comparison to nearby Paris Orly airport, there is a distinct lack of budget carriers operating out of Charles de Gaulle, though easyJet is a notable exemption, operating routes to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ibiza, Poro and Venice among many other destinations.