Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport will get a boost this week when the first phase of the new terminal 2E opens.
The initiation of the E750 million ($878 million) development, which could ultimately raise CDG's annual passenger capacity to more than 70 million, will also enable operator Aeroports de Paris (ADP) to begin a major refurbishment of the airport's original CDG-1 terminal which is 30 years old.
CDG-2E opens for business on 17 June, with the departure of an Air France flight to New York, and the arrival of a service from Beijing. Initial capacity is six million passengers annually, increasing to nine million when the second phase is fully operational in 2007.
CDG handled 48.3 million passengers last year. ADP says capacity will reach 55 million when CDG-2E reaches full capacity.
CDG-2E will have 10 parking stands when it opens. This will increase to 14 in mid-2005 and 17 in 2007. Of these, two will be Airbus A380-compatible, says ADP. Air France has 10 of the 550-seaters on order, with deliveries due to begin in late 2006.
The terminal, which is directly south of the most recently opened facility - CDG-2F - will be dedicated for Air France and its SkyTeam partners Aeromexico, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Airlines and Korean Air.
Alitalia is relocating to Air France's terminal 2F, which will now specialise in handling European Schengen Area traffic with capacity for 12 million passengers annually.
Plans are already complete to boost 2E's capacity by a further eight million passengers with the opening of a second arrival/departure hall and a 16 gate satellite "S3" to the east of the terminal.
"The satellite design is complete and we are ready to take it forward when we decide that the capacity is needed," says ADP chairman Pierre Chassigneux. "The project could be up and running 3-4 years after go-ahead."
S3 would be linked to both 2E and 2F, and would provide the entire hub facility with an annual capacity of 30 million passengers. "S3 will be designed to handle the A380," says Pierre Callard, Air France vice-president of the CDG hub project, "it will have compatible gates and double deck boarding."
A second, similarly-sized satellite - S4 - is also planned, but the project is at an early stage. "There is no decision on whether we will build this," says Callard.
The second satellite would boost CDG's capacity beyond 70 million, which, combined with its four parallel runways, would put it in a very competitive position with its main European rivals Frankfurt Main and London Heathrow.
Frankfurt's current 56 million capacity will exceed 80 million after new runway and proposed new terminal are completed. Heathrow, which currently handles 64 million passengers, will have a capacity of over 90 million after Terminal 5 opens in 2008, but will suffer movement constraints unless approval for the controversial third runway is given.
Source: Flight Daily News
