Paris Shuts Eiffel Tower, Suspends Flights as Snow Halts French Transport
Paris closed the Eiffel Tower and the French capital’s airports suspended or canceled flights, as heavy snowfalls caused transport disruptions across the country.
The Parisian landmark was closed to visitors for the day, Agence France-Presse reported, amid worsening weather conditions that hit the city’s two main airports and forced major road closures, leading to over 100 miles of snarled traffic.
The larger Paris airport, Charles de Gaulle, reopened one of its four runways, after halting all flights earlier. Services ran up delays of about two hours at Orly, Aeroports de Paris said. Conditions were worsened by low visibility and severe crosswinds, said an ADP spokeswoman, who asked not be named, citing company policy.
The delays at Charles de Gaulle came in addition to the earlier cancelation of one in five flights ordered by France’s DGAC civil-aviation authority.
Elsewhere in the country, rail and bus services and some major roads were closed, TF1 television reported. Across the Paris region, heavy trucks were ordered off the road.
The SNCF national railway ordered speed limits on some sections of its network, leading to delays of up to 30 minutes, spokesman Michael Chefles said by telephone. The rest of the network was otherwise operating normally, he said.
About 5,000 police were deployed to manage traffic, including 2,000 in the Paris region, said AFP, citing the Interior Ministry.
To contact the reporter on this story: Laurence Frost in Paris at lfrost4@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net.
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