Flights, cars, metro: How Paris 2024 Olympics will affect travel

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The impact that the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics will have on travel across the capital city is emerging, with restrictions planned for planes, road vehicles and pedestrians, and the metro.

Flights

During the Opening Ceremony on July 26, 2024, the airspace over Paris will be closed for five hours.

No planes (except for emergency services or urgent flights with prior exemption) will be permitted to land or take off from any Paris airport – Roissy, Orly, or Beauvais – from 19:00 to midnight.

There will also be an 150 km no-fly zone radius around the capital, at all altitudes.

The Transport Ministry has said: “The Armée de l’Air (Air Force) will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the restricted and prohibited airspace zones that will be set up, using specific detection and intervention resources.

“Normal users – airlines, professionals and private individuals – will be asked to postpone their activities or to bypass this zone during the period in question.”

If you have a ticket booked for an interrupted flight on this day, your airline must either offer you another flight or give you a refund.

The civil aviation authority (DGAC) has also said that other no-fly zones may be introduced during the Games themselves, “to protect certain sites”.

Road vehicles and pedestrians

Anyone wanting to travel around Paris in certain areas of the capital during the Games, either by road vehicle or on foot, will need to sign up to a digital platform and get a QR code to allow them access.

People will also be asked for proof of residence if they are travelling to a property in the zone.

Police prefect Laurent Nuñez has said that the scheme will help to ensure safety and security during the events. He told Le Parisien: “You will have to register beforehand on a digital platform and provide a number of documents, including proof of residence.”

People will be required to present their QR code, and other documents, when requested by police.

For example, Mr Nuñez said: “In practical terms, if a Parisian lives near the Seine and wants to invite friends to watch the opening ceremony from their window, they need to register on the platform.”

The same will be required if people want to have dinner in a restaurant near the Seine, for example.

“You will have to justify the fact that you are entering the perimeter to go to a restaurant, and so will have to register on the platform in advance,” he said.

The online platform is expected to open in March, “April at the latest”, he added.

Vulnerable people and those who cannot access the internet will be given an ID badge from the Mairie of Paris to prove their right to access, said Mr Nuñez. “We are working closely with them,” he said.

Similarly, motor vehicles are likely to be banned completely from zones closest to the events, and anyone wishing to pass through will need prior approval.

Each site will have four security perimeters, most of which will come into force from 2.5 hours before an event.

Inner circle: Access only for authorised persons or those with tickets to a specific event. Vehicles will be banned.
Second inner circle: Anyone entering (including pedestrians and cyclists) will be searched, and most vehicles will be banned.
Third circle: No restrictions on pedestrians or cyclists. Most vehicles still banned.
Fourth (outermost) circle: No restrictions on pedestrians or cyclists. Public vehicles with a valid reason to enter (such as because they live, work, or have leisure plans there) will be permitted.

There will be specific entry and exit points to each zone, but it is “too early to make these public”, said Mr Nuñez.

Metro, trains, and buses

The Paris metro system, run by Île-de-France Mobilités (IdFM), will have a specific ‘pass’ in place during the event, IdFM has confirmed.

Tickets could cost up to double the usual fare, in a bid to make Olympics tourists pay for access to the busiest zones, and for the extra €200 million that the company has invested in preparing the network to manage the increased number of passengers.

The ‘Paris pass’ is set to be in use from July 20 to September 8, 2024, to cover the entire Olympic Games and Paralympics period.

So far, plans include a weekly pass at €70, or €16 per day. The pass is set to allow unlimited access to the entire Île-de-France transport network, including Orlybus, Orlyval, Roissybus, Noctilien and Filéo night buses, as well as TER and Intercités trains making stops in Île-de-France.

Single metro tickets will cost €4, almost double the current rate of €2.10. The Navigo day and week pass will not be available during the event.

“I refuse to allow these additional costs to be paid for by the people of Ile-de-France,” said Valérie Pécresse, president of IdFM, on X (formerly Twitter).

#JOP2024 : @IDFmobilites va augmenter l’offre de transport pour les Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de #Paris2024.

Je refuse que ces surcoûts soient payés par les Franciliennes et les Franciliens. Qui va payer quoi entre le 20 juillet et le 8 septembre ? C’est ici ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/N6ZCBvFLR2

— Valérie Pécresse (@vpecresse) November 27, 2023

These proposals still require the approval of the IdFM Board of Directors, however, so the plans may yet change. A vote is due on December 7.

If the pass goes ahead, they will be available to purchase on a special ‘Olympics’ section of IdFM website, which will go live ahead of time.

Ms Pécresse has advised Ile-de-France residents to purchase season tickets before July 20, and to subscribe to the Liberté + loyalty programme, for access to lower-cost tickets on trains and buses, and to avoid having to pay higher prices during the Games.

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Flights, cars, metro: How Paris 2024 Olympics will affect travel

Flights

Road vehicles and pedestrians

Metro, trains, and buses

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