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Air France says Olympic Games has cut summer traffic to Paris

Air France-KLM warned on Monday that the Olympic Games would lead to a drop in revenues of up to €180 million, due to a decline in travel to Paris over the summer.

Air France says Olympic Games has cut summer traffic to Paris
An Air France plane at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. The airline has warned of falling revenues over the summer as demand for Paris falls due to the Olympics. Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP

Some 15 million visitors are predicted to attend the Games, including two million from abroad, according to the Centre for Law and Economy of Sport (CDES), which has been monitoring the Paris Games for the IOC and the Paris 2024 organisers.

But there have been concerns that the Games may keep other travellers from visiting Paris, which is a major tourist destination during the summer.

“International markets show a significant avoidance of Paris,” the airline said in a statement.

“Travel between the city and other destinations is also below the usual June-August average as residents in France seem to be postponing their holidays until after the Olympic Games or considering alternative travel plans,” it added.

Air France-KLM said it currently estimates the negative impact on its unit revenues for the June until August 2024 period but that it had no plans to scale back capacity.

It said it would provide more details when presenting half year results on July 25th.

“Travel to and from France is expected to normalise after the Olympic Games, with encouraging demand levels projected for the end of August and the month of September,” it added.

In good news for passengers, that means that summer fares are at or even below seasonal average prices.

Within Paris prices for accommodations have also fallen sharply with vastly inflated prices for hotels and Airbnbs now falling back to seasonal norms.

Paris Olympics: The travel deals to take advantage of as prices fall

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Paris’ Centre Pompidou closes for industrial action

The Centre Pompidou in Paris, which houses Europe's largest collection of modern and contemporary art, is closed on Saturday due to industrial action.

Paris' Centre Pompidou closes for industrial action

The strike was called by the FO trade union who want a daily bonus for staff working at the Centre during the Olympics, a number of sources told AFP.

“Due to industrial action, the Centre Pompidou and the @Bpi_Pompidou [library] are closed today, Saturday July 6. Tickets for that day paid by credit card will be refunded automatically,” the Centre wrote on X.

“We are closed for a strike. We are asking for an Olympic bonus given that we will be very impacted by the events planned during the Olympic Games” in Paris, Philippe Mahé, secretary of the FO union of Centre Pompidou staff, told AFP.

“It creates an overload of work,” he said, adding that “the flame will pass through the square on July 14, we are one of the establishments which will not be closed during the Olympics”, meaning that the centre could see an increased influx of people. 

READ ALSO: Firefighters protest for Paris Olympics bonus

A strike notice has been filed for the period from July 1 to September 8 and “discussions” are underway with management, he said.

“Today, we are going on strike, we cannot promise anything for tomorrow, we will see if there has been any progress.”

“As the Centre Pompidou is not an Olympic site and has not been forced to cancel leave for its staff during this period, the government’s planned arrangement for affected staff does not apply,” a spokesperson for the institution told AFP.

On June 23, the government published texts allowing the payment of additional bonuses of up to 1,500 euros to several categories of public sector employees involved in the Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11) or Paralympic Games (August 28 – September 8).

READ MORE: ANALYSIS: Will strikes disrupt the Paris Olympics?

CGT-Culture, the National Union of Museums and Estates, has also filed a strike notice. This runs from March 21 to October 8 and covers demands related to working conditions and remuneration during this period.

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