A wind of protest is blowing within the airlines, which denounce in a preventive way a drop in traffic forecasts for Orly airport. Pascal de Izaguirre, president of the National Federation of Aviation and its trades, the most important air transport association in France, has set foot in the dish. During an intervention on Tuesday, January 31, he declared himself “extremely surprised to learn very late that there is a shortage of air traffic controllers” which could have a negative impact on the number of flights departing from Orly airport.
In practice, airlines should limit the number of their flights departing from the Parisian platform mainly during the first hour of the morning, i.e. between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., from the start of the summer season. , which begins in March. In fact, the airport should only authorize 20 take-offs in this time slot instead of 25, i.e. a 20% reduction in departures.
When questioned, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) replied that“there is no shortage of air traffic controllers”. On the contrary, it states: “The operational capacity of Orly’s air navigation services remains at the same level for the summer 2023 season as in previous seasons. » “We are waiting for confirmation” of the DGAC, delays Mr. de Izaguirre, questioned, Friday February 3, by The world.
Return of activity
For the air transport regulatory body, the problem is not the number of air traffic controllers but the strong revival of activity by companies since the end of the pandemic. “The recovery in traffic is significant at Paris airports after the health crisis. Thus, at Orly, the companies which have planes based at the airport have already increased the number of departures scheduled during the first hour of the morning, from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., and plan to increase it further during the season. of summer 2023 »points out the DGAC.
The operators targeted are the low-cost companies, and in particular the largest, Transavia, easyJet and Vueling, which have experienced strong growth in recent years. Their economic model requires them to take off their planes as soon as possible, from 6 a.m., to make as many round trips as possible during the day and return to Orly by 11:30 p.m. at the latest.
You should know that, in addition to the limitation to 250,000 flight slots per year, the Orly platform is also closed between 11:30 p.m. and 6 a.m., to protect the sleep of local residents. Based in Orly, Transavia, a subsidiary of Air France which is developing at high speed, does not want a reduction in flights. On the contrary, she points out that “morning and evening slots are important for companies based at Orly”.
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