Paris will be a no-fly zone to safeguard its ambitious Olympics opening ceremony

24 April 2024, 16:14

Paris 2024
OLY Paris 2024 Transport. Picture: PA

The no-fly zone will extend for a radius of 93 miles around Paris.

Skies over the Paris region will be closed for six hours as part of the massive security operation for the July 26 opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the Paris airports operator said on Wednesday.

Augustin de Romanet, chairman of Aeroports de Paris, said airlines are being warned in advance about the closure and told they will have to fly around the restricted airspace.

“For six hours, there won’t be any aircraft over the Paris region,” he said on France Info radio.

The no-fly zone will extend for a radius of 93 miles around Paris, the civil aviation authority and interior minister Gerald Darmanin have said.

Paris 2024
At least one French military AWACS surveillance aircraft will police the skies during the Olympics (Thibault Camus/AP)

The unprecedented waterborne ceremony on the River Seine running through the French capital is the stiffest single security challenge for Paris Games organisers, with crowds of more than 320,000 people expected.

At least one French military AWACS surveillance aircraft will police the skies during the Olympics, using its powerful radar to watch for any potential airborne threats, the French AWACS squadron’s commander previously told The Associated Press.

Other military aircraft can be scrambled to intercept any non-authorised flights that enter restricted airspace.

Separately, Mr de Romanet said there is still a “very, very high” probability that small electric-powered airborne taxis will be trialled with passengers over Paris during the July 26 to August 11 Games, which he said would be a world first.

But European air-certification authorities might initially only allow the taxis to fly passengers on an experimental basis, not commercially, he added.

Paris 2024
Other military aircraft can be scrambled to intercept any non-authorised flights that enter restricted Olympic airspace (Thibault Camus/AP)

“We have high hopes that we will be able to carry passengers experimentally which will pave the way, over Paris, for the first flight in the world of an electrical vertical take-off aircraft,” he said.

Several companies are developing electrically powered aircraft that take off and land vertically. Some have already flown demonstration flights, in a race to turn their promises of environmentally friendly air transport into a commercially viable reality.

Mr de Romanet said that the aircraft are safe, adding: “I am ready to climb aboard.”

Critics say that taxis zipping through the air above Paris will be a noisy and potentially dangerous nuisance and affordable only by the wealthy.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is among opponents of proposals to trial them on a few Paris-region routes during the Games.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Firefighters use a raft to transport a horse after rescuing it from a roof, where it was trapped for days amid flooding, after heavy rain in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil

Caramelo, Brazilian horse stranded on roof by floods, is rescued

Marianne Smyth poses with Johnathan Walton

Scammer who claimed to be Irish heiress should be extradited to UK, judge rules

Trump Hush Money

Stormy Daniels spars with Trump defence lawyer over alleged sexual encounter

Eden Golan is Israel's contestant at this year's Eurovision

Israeli Eurovision singer ordered to stay in hotel by national security agency as thousands call for her to be excluded

Barron Trump

Trump’s 18-year-old son Barron to make political debut at Republican convention

Hunter Biden

Court rejects Hunter Biden’s appeal in gun case

Xi Jinping shakes hands with Viktor Orban

Hungary and China sign strategic co-operation agreement during Xi Jinping visit

Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu says Israel ‘will stand alone’ if it has to after US threat over arms

A crane loads food aid for Gaza onto a container ship docked in Cyprus

Ship loaded with aid heads for US-built Gaza pier

Sexual Misconduct Harvey Weinstein

Weinstein will not be sent back to California while he awaits New York retrial

Ukrainian serviceman at the front line in Donetsk

Zelensky says Russia has initiative in Ukraine’s east but new western aid on way

Basile Boli participates in the first stage of the Olympic torch relay in Marseille

Torchbearers in Marseille kick off Olympic flame’s journey across France

Russia Victory Day Parade

Russia celebrates victory in Second World War at Victory Day parade

Severe Weather Michigan

New storms hit southern US states as week of deadly weather marches on

Iran Protests

Director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to prison in Iran ahead of Cannes

Cyprus Israel Palestinians

First shipment of aid to US-built floating pier in Gaza leaves Cyprus