The baggage handling system in terminal 4 at Paris-Orly airport experienced a breakdown on Thursday August 3, causing delays at departure, in the middle of the summer vacation period. This malfunction, observed at the start of operations before dawn, lasted until the beginning of the evening and the announcement of the end of the incident by the airport manager, the Aéroports de Paris (ADP) group.
“About 10,000 passengers” traveling on forty flights were affected, according to ADP, which referred to a “unprecedented failure”. In a message on X (Twitter), the group clarified that the other Orly terminals were not concerned. The T4 welcomes companies serving overseas or foreign countries.
Among “all flights departing from T4 since this morning, many are late, significant delays, an hour or more”explained the airport source. “All baggage is not processed as quickly as it should be because the vast majority is processed by hand”, she added. Result : “A lot of luggage is stored (…) departing passengers but not the luggage. »
Planes from Air Caraïbes and French Bee had to take off Thursday without checked baggage, announced to AFP Marc Rochet, the leader of these companies, referring to a ” critical situation “. He evaluates “between one and three hours” take-off delays for its planes. Regarding luggage left at Orly, “we will be forced to redirect them within twenty-four hours, and we already apologize to our customers”, added Mr. Rochet. Even if all available teams are mobilized to adapt the system and minimize disruption, “it is not the failure of a luggage belt which should block a French airport of the importance of Orly”he still regretted.
” It’s not acceptable “
According to ADP, “palliative solutions have been put in place in collaboration with the companies and the assistants, for example the postponement of flights on Orly 1, 2 and 3”. “Some flights may also be transferred to Paris – Charles-de-Gaulle airport” north of the capital, according to the manager.
“What is happening at Orly is not acceptable, we cannot have hours of problems sorting luggage”reacted the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune Thursday afternoon during a visit to the Gare du Nord in Paris. “I know that all the teams are mobilized to repair”added Mr. Beaune, who presented a series of commitments in mid-July with the aim of improving the quality of service at French airports, in particular in view of the 2024 Olympic Games.
This incident broke out when the summer in Paris airports had started better than in 2022, with operations generally fluid despite traffic levels close to 2019, before the health crisis. A year ago, 35,000 pieces of luggage were lost after a three-hour strike by ADP employees in Paris – Charles-de-Gaulle.