Home » Aviation News » Paris prepares for surge in global air traffic during 2024 Olympics
Friday, July 5, 2024
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In Paris, the 2024 Summer Olympics are poised to provide a significant but short-lived boost to international air travel in France. Positive progress in international air travel to Paris has so far lagged behind that of other major European cities in 2024.
However, information on air ticket bookings indicates that the Olympics are changing this trend, albeit only for the last week of July and the first week of August. Ticket sales indicate that international air travel to Paris is expected to slow further in the weeks leading up to the Olympics, trending downward year-over-year, before bottoming out in the week prior to the event.
The downturn is likely a sign of travel delays, as sales rise in the run-up to the opening ceremony as athletes and tourists flock to the city.
Incidentally, ticket sales to Paris peaked for the second time on August 2, the start of the Games, and were up 37% compared to last year. The Olympics are clearly impacting international air travel to Paris, with ticket sales up 10% to 50% over bookings for the same period in 2023.
At the same time, improvements in international air travel to other well-known European cities have remained relatively unchanged: Paris currently outsells these European cities by almost 30 percentage points.
By the end of this major event, international bookings to other European cities are likely to increase, with international air ticket sales to Paris returning to levels seen around 2023, signaling that some travellers may seize the opportunity to continue exploring the continent after leaving Paris.
