Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) at a glance
Paris Charles de Gaulle is continental Europe's second-busiest airport and the hub of Air France, handling some 70 million passengers a year across three terminals and four runways 23 km northeast of Paris. Opened in 1974 and named for the French president, it was designed as a connecting machine, and its Terminal 2 complex remains one of the largest airline hub installations in the world.
Like Heathrow, CDG is nearing the limits of its current infrastructure, with ACI listing it among the saturated European hubs; a planned Terminal 4 was scrapped on environmental grounds, so growth now comes from optimizing what exists, while the long-delayed CDG Express rail link aims to fix the airport's weakest point, the journey into Paris.
Hub & base airlines
| Airline | Role | Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Air France | Primary hub | Terminal 2 |
Terminals & infrastructure
CDG's three terminals include the sprawling Terminal 2, Air France's hub complex of seven halls linked by the CDGVAL shuttle, and the circular 1970s icon of Terminal 1. Four runways in two independent pairs give it more movement capacity than Heathrow, and the CDG Express rail link to central Paris is due before the decade's end. Groupe ADP also operates Orly and Le Bourget across the Paris system.Full specifications
Latest Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) coverage from AeroTime
Frequently asked questions
Air France, whose Terminal 2 complex is the heart of its global network, alongside SkyTeam partners including Delta and KLM.
Around 70 million a year, making it continental Europe's busiest hub and second in Europe only to London Heathrow.
A planned Terminal 4 was cancelled on environmental grounds in 2021, so the airport is instead modernizing existing terminals and building the CDG Express rail link to central Paris.