Orly Airport in 2035: the manager refines his project after consultation

Groupe ADP collected more than 10.000 opinions from communities neighboring the platform and their residents, in three months of voluntary consultation, more than half of which concern mobility and fluidity of access, one of the cornerstones of the project unveiled in its broad outlines last February.

Committed to decarbonizing its ground activities by 2030, ADP wants to reduce the role of cars at Orly, whereas today "70% of passengers and 90% of employees come by car", noted the group's executive director, Edward Arkwright, during a press conference in Paris.

"It is absolutely impossible to achieve the environmental objectives" set without "this mobility revolution," he added. The solution? Prohibit access to individual vehicles near the terminals, a "funnel" of roads often the scene of traffic jams, in favor of parking lots located on the outskirts of the facilities, and connected to the terminals by "dedicated public transport" (TCSP) - for example trams or buses on a dedicated lane.

ADP ultimately wants to double the proportion of passengers who come by public transport and quadruple that of employees, Mr. Arkwright recalled. The company can count on metro line 14, whose new Orly station saw 850.000 people pass through in July and 870.000 in August, while waiting for other lines of the Grand Paris.

This connection has, however, claimed one victim: the number of passengers on the Orlyval automatic line, which has linked the airport to Antony station on the RER B for 33 years, fell by 70 to 75% this summer, according to the manager.

But its maintenance was often mentioned during the consultation and its infrastructure could be reused, or even extended towards the East, as the base of the TCSP even if studies still have to validate this adaptation.

Among the other public feedback that ADP will take into consideration: ensuring the fluidity of the passenger journey to the terminal, giving priority access to "sensitive groups" such as families or people with reduced mobility, but also to taxis and VTCs. A working group will be launched with the latter.