Orly Disrupted: 40% of Flights Cancelled After Air Traffic Control Failure

Major disruptions hit the Paris airport on Sunday, as technical teams work to restore operations.

Air traffic at Paris-Orly Airport faced major disruptions on Sunday, May 18, after an air traffic control system failure occurred early in the afternoon. The French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) has ordered airlines to reduce their flight schedules by 40% until the end of the day.

In a statement shared with Radio France, the DGAC said that technical teams are “fully mobilized to restore operations as quickly as possible.” So far, there has been no information on whether the disruption will extend into Monday.

On its X account (formerly Twitter), Orly Airport warned that “delays and cancellations are expected for the remainder of the day.” According to Aéroports de Paris, multiple airlines—including Air France, Transavia, and Vueling—have already cancelled flights, notably to Toulouse, Rabat, Tunis, Palma de Mallorca, and Alicante. Around thirty departures had been scrapped by Sunday evening, and several arrivals were also affected, such as an AirEuropa flight from Madrid and an Air France service from Toulouse.

Departures and Arrivals Severely Affected

The traffic regulation impacted both departures and arrivals, creating a ripple effect for passengers. Cancelled flights included a Paris-Toulouse route operated by Air France scheduled for 4:00 p.m., as well as two Transavia services to Palma and Tunis. On the arrivals board, an AirEuropa Madrid-Paris flight and a Transavia flight from Biarritz were also removed from the schedule.

Handling over 33 million passengers in 2024, Orly is France’s second-busiest airport after Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle. On this Sunday, roughly a quarter of its daily traffic was brought to a standstill.