The second European airport in terms of passenger traffic is French Charles de Gaulle. In the world list, he is in eighth place. Without further ado, it is clear that for France and Paris this is the main airport and transfer hub. Every day, the runway of Charles de Gaulle Airport receives and sends about one and a half thousand aircraft belonging to more than a hundred different airlines around the world. During the same period of time, the terminal manages to serve up to one hundred and fifty thousand passengers.
Charles de Gaulle is the main base for the national carrier of France - Air France. The airline's headquarters are also located here. Given the fact that the appearance of the entire airport complex looks quite unusual with the addition of a futuristic architectural style, it was chosen for filming films"Crew" and "Pirx Pilot's Inquiry".
Brief historical background
The construction of the airport began in the 60s of the last century. Its draft title sounded like "Paris Nord". The decision to build a new airfield was made after realizing that the existing airport terminals and runways in Bourges and Orly could not cope with the growing passenger flow.
However, in order to continue the construction, it was necessary to buy land from farms that were previously located on the territory where the airport now stands. The trials lasted almost 10 years, and only in 1974 did the first passengers pass through the doors of the brand new Charles de Gaulle terminal.
Location
The largest airport in Europe is located twenty-three kilometers from Paris. The Charles de Gaulle airport scheme includes three terminals, designated in Latin letters and numbers: 1st, 2nd (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2F, 2E, 2G) and 3rd.
You can travel between terminals on shuttle buses. They run every seven minutes, and the stops where you can get on the buses are marked on the map of Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Airport terminals
The air terminal complex consists of three parts. According to the diagram of the terminals of Charles de Gaulle airport, it looks like this:
- The first terminal that accepts aircraft from all airlines in the world, with the exception of French.
- Second, accepting all flights from the Russian Federation.
- Third, used by charter airlines and low-cost airlines.
First Terminal
If you look at the diagram of Charles de Gaulle Airport and find its first terminal, you will notice that it consists of four levels. The first one houses an information desk, currency exchange offices, luggage wrapping points and more.
The second floor is equipped with the Lost and Found room, reception desks and so on. On the third floor, the main part of the terminal is border control and boarding gates. The arrivals area is located on the fourth floor.
Terminal 2
In the second terminal, marked 2A, there are currency exchange offices, baggage wrapping points and so on. In zone 2C, you can also wrap your suitcases in plastic and get a tax refund on purchases at the Tax Free counter. According to the Charles de Gaulle airport scheme, terminal 2C is the territory of departure and arrival, which in turn are divided into two sites.
There is constant confusion with part 2E, since there are as many as three departure zones and one arrival zone at the same time. There are also a couple of check-in desks for passengers. A special shuttle runs throughout the territory of 2E, which delivers passengers to the required point for free, following the indicated route on the floor. 2F deserves special attention, since only the arrivals area is located here. The rest of the details should be viewed directly on the diagram of the terminals of Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
Third terminal
The third terminal is used for departures andarrivals by charter airlines and airlines providing budget flights (low-cost airlines). On its territory there are hotels with different price categories, and according to passengers, this is a very convenient option, since charter flights can often be delayed. True, a small disadvantage is the lack of telescopic ladders, so after landing, passengers need to wait for buses that take them to the terminal doors.
Parking lots
On the diagram of Charles de Gaulle airport, you can see as many as ten parking zones. Each is heavily guarded and almost everywhere the first ten minutes are free. You can travel through the transit and air terminal territory on special shuttles, in which you do not need to pay a fare.
Airport parking can be divided into three types:
- Short-term. It is located closest to the entrance to the terminal and is convenient for quick disembarkation of passengers, but for a long stay you will have to pay a fairly large amount.
- Regular parking near all areas of the second terminal. They cost the same and are perfect for meeting passengers.
- Long-term parking is located away from the main terminals.
- Separate parking near Terminal 3 with online reservations.
How to sort out among the available parking zones?
Open short-term parking is best used when the parking time does not exceedone hour. This parking lot is not suitable for a meeting, as passengers will walk to it for a very long time.
P1 car park is located two minutes walk from the first terminal. Parking P3 is located near the third terminal. The RAV car park is covered and located near terminal areas 2A and 2B. The PCD car park is also covered and located near zones 2C and 2D. Parking PG can be found at the 2G terminal area (from the parking lot to the check-in counters about two minutes on foot).
The P3 Resa parking lot doesn't have the free ten minutes that the others have. It is located at the third terminal and is suitable for those who wish to leave their car for a long period.
Open-air parking PX is also designed for long-term parking and is located away from the main airport building. It takes about five minutes to walk from it to the first terminal, but you will have to use the free shuttle. To zones A, B, C, D, E, F of the second terminal about ten minutes, of which four minutes will be spent walking to the stop with a free shuttle and six minutes by bus to the terminal.
It takes about twenty-three minutes to get to the 2G zone, of which six minutes will take the road to the stop from which the shuttle leaves for the second terminal, and then you should transfer to another free bus number 2. You can reach the third terminal in eight minutes, of which four minutes will be spent on the road to the stop and four on the shuttle to the third terminal.
Reviews
In their reviews on numerous travel forums, passengers notea problem with the information content of the airport's official website. Also, many wrote that the queues for passport control are moving very slowly, the ground staff is clearly unable to cope with large flows of people.
Some people speak very negatively about the lack of cleanliness in the terminals of the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. The layout of the airport is not very clear to most tourists, as are the indicative tables hung inside the terminal.
