A luggage equipment breakdown at Orly airport in Paris, which caused disruptions and baggage being carried out by hand, has been settled.
According to airport operator ADP and airlines, the situation resulted in many flights leaving late and without the luggage of passengers on board. In addition, luggage was piled at the entrance of the terminal as travellers were told to leave their tagged bags behind, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Marc Rochet, the head of the French Bee and Air Caraibes airlines using the affected terminal, and flights took off with delays between one and three hours – without passengers having their luggage that had been checked in.
“We didn’t have another option. Otherwise, the whole system would be blocked,” Rochet told AFP.
The luggage in the terminal was transferred to a secure place and then put on the following flights. ADP tried to reduce the impact of disruptions by having planes use other terminals at Orly Airport or Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Clement Beaune condemned the situation and called it ‘unacceptable,’ as a few weeks ago, the government made a series of proposals to improve the quality of service as the Olympic Games will be held in Paris next year.
“This is exactly the type of concrete things that we need to watch. When one link of the chain breaks, you have a really big problem,” said Beaune.
As a report by Explore France reveals, more than one million tourists are expected to travel to Paris next year, as the city will host the 2024 Olympic Games. The games are set to take place from July 26 to August 11, and thousands of athletes, hundreds of delegations, and tens of competition sites are expected to be established and attending the event of the year for the “city of lights.”
“Open-air museum, exceptional natural landscapes, local and eco-responsible gastronomy, visitors could not have dreamed of a better setting to encourage future medal winners,” the report reads.
Statista, the statistics provider website, shows that the number of visitor arrivals to Paris has almost doubled in 2022 and is further expected to increase. As per the countries of origin, the majority of visitors to Paris were from the United States (6.2 million), followed by the United Kingdom (2.7 million), as well as Germany (2.1 million), followed by tourists coming from China, Spain, Italy and Japan.
With this high demand from visitors, French airports and service providers might be challenged to meet the expectations. However, visitors are always advised to take into account that inconveniences can occur. Therefore, it is highly recommended to purchase travel insurance to be prepared for unexpected expenses.
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