Paris Orly Airport (, ; ) is one of two international airports serving Paris, France, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in and named after Orly, south of Paris.
The airport served as the secondary hub for Air France until March 2026, handling many flights to domestic and overseas French territories. Most of these services have transferred to Charles de Gaulle Airport, with domestic routes from Orly handed over to the airline's low-cost subsidiary, Transavia France. Public service obligation (PSO) routes from the airport to Corsica continue to be operated by Air France. Orly operates flights to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and North America.
Before the opening of CDG in 1974, Orly was the main airport of Paris. Even with the shift of most international traffic to CDG, Orly remains the busiest French airport for domestic traffic and the second busiest French airport overall in passenger traffic, with 34,928,909 passengers in 2025. It is served by Aéroport d'Orly station of the Paris Metro.
Location Orly Airport covers of land. The airport area, including terminals and runways, spans over two departments and seven communes: Essonne department: communes of Paray-Vieille-Poste (West Terminal and half of South Terminal), Wissous,"Plan de Wissous ." Wissous. Retrieved on 6 October 2009. Athis-Mons,"Plans, cartes et vue aérienne ." Athis-Mons. Retrieved on 6 October 2009. Chilly-Mazarin,"Plan interactif ." Chilly-Mazarin. Retrieved on 6 October 2009. and Morangis;"Plan ." Morangis. Retrieved on 6 October 2009. Val-de-Marne department: communes of Villeneuve-le-Roi"Plan de la ville ." Villeneuve-le-Roi. Retrieved on 6 October 2009. and Orly (half of South Terminal)."Plan d'Orly ." Orly. Retrieved on 6 October 2009.
Management of the airport, however, is solely under the authority of Aéroports de Paris (ADP), which also manages Charles de Gaulle Airport, Le Bourget Airport, and several smaller airports in the suburbs of Paris.
History
First years Originally known as Villeneuve-Orly Airport, the facility was opened in the southern suburbs of Paris in 1932 as a secondary airport to Le Bourget. Before this two huge airship hangars had been built there by the engineer Eugène Freyssinet from 1923 on.
World War II As a result of the Battle of France in 1940, Orly Airport was used by the occupying German Luftwaffe as a combat airfield, stationing various fighter and bomber units at the airport throughout the occupation. Consequently, Orly was repeatedly attacked by the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), destroying much of its infrastructure, and leaving its runways with numerous bomb craters to limit its usefulness to the Germans.
After the Battle of Normandy and the retreat of German forces from the Paris area in August 1944, Orly was partially repaired by USAAF combat engineers and was used by Ninth Air Force as tactical airfield A-47. The 50th Fighter Group flew P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber aircraft from the airport until September, then liaison squadrons used the airfield until October 1945.Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
Post-war The USAAF diagram from March 1947 shows the 27/207 (degrees magnetic) runway (later 03R) with 81/261 runway (later 08L) crossing it at its north end. The November 1953 Aeradio diagram shows four concrete runways, all wide: 03L , 03R , 08L and 08R .
The American United States Army Air Forces 1408th Army Air Force Base Unit was the primary operator at Orly Field until March 1947 when control was returned to the French Government. (The United States Air Force leased a small portion of the Airport to support Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) at Rocquencourt). The Americans left in 1967 as a result of France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military command, and all non-French NATO forces were asked to leave France.McAuliffe, Jerome J. (2005). US Air Force in France 1950–1967. San Diego, California: Milspec Press, Chapter 14, Paris-USAF Operations. .
In May 1958, Pan Am Douglas DC-7Cs flew to Los Angeles in 21 hours and 56 minutes; Trans World Airlines, Air France and Pan Am flew nonstop to New York in 14h10–15min. Air France flew to Tokyo in 31h5min via Anchorage or 44h45min on a seven-stop Lockheed Constellation (1049G model) via India. Air France's ten flights a day to London were almost all Vickers Viscounts; the only other London flight was Alitalia's daily Douglas DC-6B (BEA was at Le Bourget).
A development project voted in 2012 planned to merge the airport's south and west terminals with the construction of an building to create one great terminal. On 14 April 2016, the Groupe ADP rolled out the Connect 2020 corporate strategy and the commercial brand Paris Aéroport was applied to all Parisian airports, including the Orly airport.
On 7 November 2015, the failure of a two-decade-old Windows 3.1 system which was responsible for communicating visual range information in foggy weather to pilots caused a temporary cease of operations. Whether the failure was hardware- or software-based is not specified, though the highlighting of the operating system suggests a software failure.
As part of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on aviation, the airport was closed to all commercial traffic from 1 April 2020 to 25 June 2020. During this period, commercial traffic and flights were relocated to Charles de Gaulle Airport, while Orly was still used for State flights, emergency diversions, and medical evacuations.
Paris Aéroport reported in 2023 that a tree-planting project in the vicinity of the airport, along the route of the route nationale 7, was being undertaken. The scheme involved planting 900 tree species and 14,000 forest seedlings. Paris Aéroport anticipates capturing 329 tonnes of carbon per year through the planting.Paris Aéroport, Paris Vous Aime Magazine, No 13, avril-may-juin 2023, p. 167
In October 2023, it was announced that Air France will largely cease using Orly Airport by summer 2026, with only one public service obligation flight to Corsica to remain.Air France bids au revoir to Orly Airliner World January 2024 page 7
Terminals
Terminals 1 and 2 Known as the West Terminal until March 2019, these two terminals consist of two floors and a gate area of four "fingers" rather than a brick-style layout. The ground level 0 features the arrivals facilities including eight baggage reclaim belts as well as several service facilities and shops. The departures area is located on level 1 with more stores and restaurants located here. This central departures area is connected to three gate areas split between Orly 1 (A and B gates) and Orly 2 (C gates). 23 stands at this terminal are equipped with jet-bridges, with several of them also able to handle wide-body aircraft.Google Maps
Terminal 3 Inaugurated in April 2019, Terminal 3 is a junction building between Terminals 1, 2 and 4. The terminal allows customers to travel between all areas of the airport under one roof. It includes around of duty-free shopping along with several restaurants and lounges. It houses gates D and E, with direct access to Orly 4 departure gates.
Terminal 4 Formerly known as the South Terminal this innovative 1961 steel-and-glass terminal building consists of six floors. While the smaller basement level −1 as well as the upper levels 2, 3 and 4 contain only some service facilities, restaurants and office space, level 0 features the arrivals facilities as well as several shops and service counters. The airside area and departure gates are located on the upper level 1. The waiting area, which features several shops as well, houses gates E and F. 15 of the terminal's departure gates are equipped with jet-bridges, some of which are able to handle wide-body aircraft.
Airlines and destinations
Statistics Busiest international routes from Paris Orly Airport (2024) +RankAirportPassengers1Madrid1,575,3312Lisbon1,528,0533Rome Fiumicino1,178,5304Porto1,127,7115Barcelona1,125,1716Algiers796,1287Marrakech776,9028Tunis744,7269Casablanca632,91110Malaga511,503 Busiest domestic routes from Paris Orly Airport (2024) +RankAirportPassengers1Nice1,600,4572Toulouse1,276,2453Pointe-à-Pitre1,096,0194Saint-Denis de la Réunion983,4635Fort-de-France953,6586Ajaccio482,5687Bastia467,1928Marseille380,5769Perpignan240,00010Montpellier233,084
Other facilities AOM French Airlines had its head office in Orly Airport Building 363 in Paray-Vieille-Poste."World Airline Directory 1999." Flight International. 2000. 363."Nos coordonnées agences en "France Métropolitaine "." AOM French Airlines. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "SIEGE Bâtiment 363 B.P. 854 94 551 ORLY AEROGARE CEDEX""Résultat de votre recherche." Le Journal officiel électronique authentifié. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Siège social : compagnie Air Lib, bâtiment 363, zone centrale à l’aéroport d’Orly, 91550 Paray-Vieille-Poste." After AOM and Air Liberté merged in 2001,"Découvrir Air Liberté." Air Liberté. 23 February 2002. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 22 Septembre 2001, AOM et AIR LIBERTE ont donné naissance à une nouvelle compagnie aérienne qui porte désormais le nom AIR LIB." the new airline, Air Lib, occupied building 363."World Airline Directory." Flight International. 12–18 March 2002. 57.
Ground transportation
Train Orly Airport is directly served by one metro line, a tram line and a people mover, which offer connections to the larger Paris transportation network:
Paris Métro Line 14 links the airport with central Paris and Saint-Denis, with a journey time of 25 minutes to Châtelet–Les Halles station Tramway T7 connects to Terminal 4, and offers service to Villejuif–Louis Aragon station on Paris Métro Line 7. Orlyval people mover line that connects two stations at Orly terminals (Orly 1, 2, 3 station and Orly 4 station) with Antony station, served by the RER B line. Passengers can also transfer to Tramway T7 at Orly 4 station. Orlyval is free to use between the two stations at Orly; however a premium fare is charged between Antony and Orly Airport (the suburb of Antony is about 5 km from the airport).
As part of the Grand Paris Express project, Aéroport d'Orly station on the metro opened on 24 June 2024. It is by a new extension of Line 14, linking the airport directly to Paris. From 2027, the station will also be served by Line 18, connecting the airport to Massy-Palaiseau and Paris-Saclay.
Car Orly Airport is connected to the A106 autoroute (spur of the A6 autoroute).
Buses and coaches Disneyland Magical Shuttle direct to Disneyland Paris RATP bus 183 to Rungis International Market via Pont de Rungis–Aéroport d'Orly station (connection to RER C) and Robert Peary station (connection to Tramway T9) Albatrans bus 91–10 to Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines–Montigny-le-Bretonneux station (connection to Transilien) via Massy-Palaiseau station (connection to TGV) Noctilien night buses: N22 to Paris (Châtelet–Les Halles station) N31 to Paris (Gare de Lyon) N131 to Paris (Gare de Lyon) via Brétigny station N144 to Paris (Gare de l'Est) via Corbeil-Essonnes
Accidents and incidents On 10 February 1948, SNCASE Languedoc P/7 F-BATH of Air France was damaged beyond economical repair at Orly Airport. On 20 September 1952, a USAF Douglas C-47 Skytrain on final approach to ORY struck a telephone pole, rooftops and crashed and caught fire 1 km (0.6 mi) from ORY. Three of the four occupants on board died. On 27 November 1953, a USAF Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar crashed 4 km (2.5 mi) NE of ORY on approach, crashing in flames in the Cholsy-le-Roy neighborhood of Paris. The cause was the rear clam shell doors broke off striking the horizontal stabilizer, causing a catastrophic failure of the empennage. All six occupants were killed.