Heavy snowfall halts flights at Paris airports

PARIS, Feb 23 (AFP) – Heavy snowfall on Wednesday virtually shut down the two main airports of Paris, Orly and Charles de Gaulle, officials said, causing major delays.

Air traffic at Orly south of the French capital was “virtually zero,” Aeroports de Paris (ADP), which operates the airports, said, after both runways had to be shut down to clear the snow.

At Charles de Gaulle, the larger of the two, traffic was limited to 30 percent of normal take-offs and landings.

Only a total of 50 flights were arriving and departing, ADP said, which meant that all flights would be delayed by an average of one hour.

Road traffic in and around Paris during morning rush hour was also severely hampered due to the snow, with officials calling on drivers to pull over or not even take to the highways until conditions improved.

© AFP