Paris Orly Airport (ORY)

Orly Airport is one of the main airports that serve Paris, the capital city of France, and is located in two departments, which are known as the Essonne and Val-de-Marne départements. The airport is approximately 13km, or 8.1 miles south of the city, and is also alongside the commune of Orly, hence the name. The official IATA code is listed as ORY, and its ICAO code is registered as LFPO.

The Orly Airport, within its two départements, straddles seven communes. These communes include Paray-Vieille-Poste, Wissous, Athis-Mons, Chilly-Mazarin and Morangis in the Essonne area, and Villeneuve-le-Roi and Orly in the Val-de-Marne département. The majority of the passenger buildings lie in the Essonne département, while only half of the South Terminal falls under the second département. To the north of Orly is Vitry-Sur-Seine, Irvy-sur-Seine, Antony, Créteil and the city centre of Paris, while to the south/southeast lies Évry, Corbeil-Essonnes and Melun. Other prominent areas to the west and east include Ozoir-la-Ferrière, Versailles and Trappes. Some of the larger cities in France surrounding Paris include Beauvais, Amiens and Lille to the north, Orleans, Bourges and Limoges to the south, Le Mans, Rennes and Le Havre to the west and Luxembourg, Metz, Saarbrücken and Strasbourg to the east.

Access to Orly Airport is conveniently provided by the A106 autoroute, which is an extension of the A6 autoroute, and which also leads directly into Paris. A couple of other prominent roads surround the airport as well. However, passengers can also arrive by bus, train and taxi, as all these options are available as well. The airport features the special Orlybus, and RER train connections.

Although Orly is not the main airport in Paris anymore, since the construction of Charles de Gaulle, it is still the one that handles the majority of domestic traffic. Much of Orly Airport’s international traffic moved over to Charles de Gaulle when it opened in the 1970’s. In 2010, ORY was recorded as the second-largest airport in France in terms of overall passenger boardings, with 25,204,000 passengers. It is also a hub for the airline companies of Aigle Azur, Air Caraibes, Corsairfly, EasyJet, OpenSkies and Transavia France, and the destinations of these companies include Algiers, Lisbon, Oran, Fort-de-France, Saint-Martin, Mauritius, Miami, Athens, Faro, Milan-Linate, Naples, Nice, Rome-Ciampino, Toulouse and Washington-Dulles. Transvania France serves many Spanish destinations, including Seville, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Tenerife South, and Air France has flights to Marseille, Montpellier, Nice, Pau, Perpignan, Strasbourg and Toulon. Other important airline carriers include Air Berlin, Air Europa, British Airways, Iberia, Flybe, TAP Portugal, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Alitalia.

Le Bourget was the first airport in Paris, established in the very early 1900’s, and Orly airport was then opened in 1932 as a secondary airport. Le Bourget is a small airfield located just south of the main Charles de Gaulle Airport. Paris Orly was then referred to as the Villeneuve-Orly. During the World Wars the airport was extensively used as the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force repeatedly attacked a combat airfield by German Luftwaffe. Much of its existing facilities were destroyed, and the runways had numerous bomb craters. In the years after 1944 the airport was partially repaired by the United States Army Air Force, for use by the Ninth Air Force, but by 1947, the control over it has been returned to the French Government. In 1967, France withdrew from NATO’s integrated military command, and all non-French NATO forces were asked to leave the country.

Today, the airport in Orly has two large terminal buildings and three runways, each of a significant length in order to enable handling of large aircrafts. Two are well over 3,000 metres, while the other is 2,400 metres. The longest runway is made of bituminous concrete. The terminal buildings are named in relation to their location on the site, as the South Terminal (Sud) and the West Terminal (Ouest), and both are fully equipped for the comfort of their passengers. The whole Orly airport is also accessible to disabled passengers in wheelchairs, with lowered public telephone booths, accessible ticket dispensers and adapted toilet facilities. Moving walkways and escalators also provide assistance for those with reduced mobility challenges.

Paris Orly is well equipped for families, with various nappy-changing stations and wonderful Gulli play areas located in the boarding lounges of both terminals. There are also a couple of areas whereby older children can play free playstation games whilst they wait for their flights. Further facilities at the location are healthcare centres and pharmacies, multimedia terminals, lost property offices, luggage services, multi-faith prayer areas, post offices, banking services by HSBC banks, and many interesting shops selling all kinds of items. There are many restaurants, bars and cafés in the public and restricted areas of terminals as well.

The airports of Paris are operated by Aéroports de Paris, and their website has further details regarding Orly information. Information desks are also found within the terminals of the airport.

The official code of ORY is assigned to Pairs Orly. Please find below GPS coordinates which may help you in your arrival or departure from the airport. The Coordinates are 48.71667, 2.38333 which you can enter into your Smartphone or in-car GPS.

Find below a choice of Airlines, destination and flight times from Orly Airport.