Paris CDG Becoming Mega Hub
<B> Paris CDG Becoming Mega Hub</B>
By David Jonas
<I>Paris</I> - Experiencing unprecedented growth even during a time of widespread airport expansion, Paris-Charles de Gaulle is poised to become one of the dominant mega-hubs in Europe. By March 2001, it will offer twice as many slots on two new runways and double the capacity thanks to a pair of additional terminals.
As a driver and benefactor of the airport expansion, Air France plans to anchor substantial growth--particularly transatlantic--at Charles de Gaulle. Francois Southarewsky, the carrier's operations and development manager at the airport, said, "Charles de Gaulle is the only major European hub with room to grow. Frankfurt is saturated and Amsterdam actually had to reduce traffic." Acknowledging that those other airports produce a higher percentage of transferring traffic because they began earlier as hubs, he said, "Air France's main growth at CDG will be by big increases in connecting traffic."
In fact, the Air France terminal alone offers more than 11,300 sub-two-hour connections each week spread over six daily flight banks, nearly 4,000 more than Lufthansa in Frankfurt. KLM in Amsterdam, British Airways in London and Swissair in Zurich rank even further behind.
"In the U.S., everyone has known about the efficiency of the hub, but in Europe it is kind of new," said Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Air France chairman and CEO. "But every day we learn more about the opportunities for traffic, connections and yield management." He added that Air France holds 50 percent of the slots at CDG and will maintain that share as the airport grows, and that CDG's opportunity for development during the next decade is "one of Air France's strongest assets."
The third runway that debuted this past spring and a fourth one opening in March 2001 will benefit all airport tenants by increasing slots by 50 percent. However, terminal expansion will focus on Air France operations in Terminal 2.
The building already added the F1 terminal wing last year and F2 in May. Each 13-gate extension has new Air France first- and business-class lounges and combined will handle 10 million passengers annually. Terminal E also is under construction and is slated for completion by 2003.
Meanwhile, on Oct. 1, one of Air France's transatlantic rivals, American Airlines settled into unfamiliar territory in CDG's Terminal 2. The carrier was pushed out of Paris Orly when the French government decided to re-route long-haul flights away from that airport.
"Charles de Gaulle is the major gateway for flights into the Middle East and Eastern Europe," said an AA spokesperson. "It will enhance connections for our passengers to points beyond." The carrier said it will have more space than it had at Orly and will open a new Admirals Club.
Air France likely will see yet another competitor move in as Virgin Express announced plans to commence CDG operations. The low-fare carrier already has a hub in Brussels.
In other airport news, a monorail system is under construction. When completed in two or three years, the system will link all passenger terminals and supplant the current shuttle bus system. Meanwhile, a rail station currently offers connections to Paris and various destinations throughout France and Belgium. SNCF, the French national rail service provider, offers codesharing with Air France, Lufthansa and United on trains connecting passengers from CDG to certain French cities.
Also, the development of a new taxiway will ease ground congestion. Congestion in the air, however, is another matter. Air France officials said nearly one-quarter of all flights at Charles de Gaulle suffer air traffic control delays, a startling figure but still comparing favorably to many other European airports.
"This year has been a real nightmare due to traffic increases and the military action in Kosovo," Spinetta said. "All European countries need to decide ATC is a common goal and work cooperatively to establish compatible systems.