With one eye on the upcoming 2024 Olympics, bosses at Paris airports have unveiled a plan to cut waiting times for travellers departing and arriving from the French capital.

Aéroports de Paris, which controls Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports plus the private jet terminal of Le Bourget, on Wednesday unveiled its plan to reduce waiting times at passport control – especially during peak periods like the summer holidays and the Olympics next year.

Paris airports will recruit an extra 255 border agents by June, and another 500 by the end of 2024 (in total the border force wants to recruit an extra 1,200 agents across the country in time for the 2024 Olympics).

The other big change is expanding the use of automated passport gates for non-EU travellers, in order to speed the passport control process.

At present the faster automated gates are generally only used for EU citizens at French airports, but the French government says that they can also be used by passport-holders of the following nations;

• United States
• Canada
• Australia
• New-Zealand
• Japan
• South Korea
• Singapore
• United Kingdom
• Monaco

These are people who benefit from the ’90-day rule’ which allows them to travel to France visa-free for short periods.

Over the next year, Paris airports will increase the number of automated passport gates from 122 to 170 and also lower the staffing ratio.

Perhaps the biggest difference for travellers, however, will be who can use the gates.

Fabrice Gardon, director of the French border force, explained to France Bleu: “The problem is that at the moment the ‘Parafe’ [automated gates] are configured either for third-country nationals or for Schengen nationals, and we cannot change them on demand, so it’s almost overnight.

“This situation will soon be resolved with the possibility of configuring the gates in real time.”

At present non-EU travellers at Paris airports are almost always directed to the staffed passport control booths – which generally have longer queues .

Gardon stressed the importance of ensuring smooth passage while guaranteeing security: “It is the country’s image that is at stake, especially with the Rugby World Cup and the Paris Olympics approaching.”

Plans for extra border controls via the EU’s new EES and ETIAS systems have been delayed until 2024 because of concerns about longer queues, and it is reported that France would like to wait until after the Olympics in the summer of 2024.