Noise pollution and employment are the main concerns for the future of Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) airport, its director announced on Thursday, promising to respond to them by adapting its infrastructure to a “moderate” growth in traffic.
From April to July, the ADP Group carried out a voluntary consultation with local residents, elected officials, associations, companies and other interested parties, collecting more than 20,000 opinions on its plans for the first French airport for 2035 and 2050.
Presented in March, this project seeks a gradual “adaptation” of infrastructure to the increase in demand, of the order of 1 to 1.5% annually, a rate lower than expected before the health crisis but which could translate into 105 million passengers in 2050, compared to 70 million last year.
Towards 150 million passengers in 2050
In early 2021, the government abandoned the controversial Terminal 4 project that would have increased CDG’s reception capacity to 120 million passengers by 2037. The new approach is “more progressive and more sober,” ADP promises.
The company, 50.6% owned by the State, has promised a 30% reduction “of the population considered subject to significant noise nuisance” during the day between now and 2035 and 54% in 2050, compared to 2019.
At night, on a platform that, unlike Orly, is not subject to curfew and supports significant rotations of goods, ADP aims to reduce the number of people affected by sleep disorders by 32% by 2035 and 63% by 2050.
Creation of 10,000 jobs by 2035
ADP wants, in particular, to “expand the modulation mechanism for airport charges” that penalizes older and noisier aircraft, and to continue working with the General Directorate of Civil Aviation to optimize trajectories.
The group estimates that the increase in CDG activity will mean the creation of 10,000 jobs between now and 2035, in addition to 30,000 replacements due to retirements. Between 2035 and 2050, some 20,000 additional jobs would be created.
The consultation revealed the request that these jobs benefit “young people from the territories” close to CDG, on the borders of Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-d’Oise and Seine-et-Marne, said Justine Coutard, also promising measures in this regard.
Source: BFM TV
