The Directorate of Border Police and the ADP Group published the general trend observed in May 2023 on the waiting time in Paris airports. The manager also unveiled a Hospitality plan for the management of great departures.
Associated to draw up the monthly report of the waiting times encountered by passengers at the various border control points at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports, the PAF and ADP have drawn up the report for the month of May 2023. Paris CDG : of nearly 2.9 million passengers on international flights outside Schengen, 77% waited less than 10 minutes, 97% less than 30 minutes and 99% less than 45 minutes. AT Paris-Orly : out of nearly 880,000 passengers on international flights, 88% waited less than 10 minutes, 99.2% less than 30 minutes and 99.9% less than 45 minutes.
As a reminder, the maximum waiting times at the Border Police in airports, set by the Prime Minister, are 30 minutes for European nationals and 45 minutes for non-Europeans. ADP looks back on a few special events :
– Monday 15 May, departures and arrivals from Paris-Charles de Gaulle: a general breakdown of the computer systems of the Ministry of the Interior disrupted border controls for a large part of the day. At Terminal 2E, around 1,000 passengers waited until 1:10 a.m. on departures and around 1,600 passengers waited until 1:20 a.m. on arrivals. In total at border controls at Terminals 1, 2BD and 3, nearly 4,000 passengers waited up to 90 minutes (“to limit the impact of this breakdown as much as possible, the Border Police have implemented specific measures to easing of targeted checks, while Groupe ADP deployed reception officers to direct passengers in queues, distribute bottles of water and increase information on site to explain the origin of the disturbances).
– Monday 22 May, departures and arrivals from Terminal 1 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, from 8:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.: during this Ascension weekend, the booths have been fully equipped. Despite this anticipation, around 1,400 passengers waited up to 80 minutes at the departure borders and around 1,200 passengers waited until 1:40 a.m. at the arrivals. “A warning system has been put in place with the distribution of bottles of water, prioritization by the reception agents of passengers whose flights were eminent and sound announcements in order to inform passengers of the situation”.
– Saturday May 27, at Paris-Charles de Gaulle connecting border controls, between terminals 2F and 2E: very high influx of passengers on this connecting border during the Pentecost weekend, combined with a slowdown in the computer network of the airport. “Thanks to the proper use of the PARAFE airlocks, waiting times have been reduced”, but around 350 passengers observed longer waiting times of up to 55 minutes.
A Hospitality plan for major summer departures
For major departures, Groupe ADP announces an increase in the number ofhosts and hostesses which will guide passengers through terminals, security checks and border crossings. Overall, they will be approximately 1300 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and around 500 at Paris-Orly who can be mobilized on these missions this summer.
The organization of Waiting lines at the level of border controls will be reviewed: from the start of the waiting area, passengers will be oriented according to their eligibility for PARAFE airlocks (age then nationality) in order to encourage their use for better fluidity.
In addition to informing and guiding passengers, the reception staff are responsible for identifying the most vulnerable people – people with disabilities, the elderly, families, etc. – to bring them “specific attention and direct them to priority queues”. They are also responsible for coordinating with airlines whose flights are imminent, to expedite their passage.
Moreover, in order to maintain the fluidity border controls, “a significant recruitment program has been launched by the Central Directorate of Border Police (DCPAF). 280 border control assistants (ACF) were assigned to Paris airports and received training adapted to their missions”.
