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Travel to France: Will there be French border delays this summer?

Amid fears of a shortage of French border control agents and infrastructure problems at UK ports, we take a look at travel into France this summer.

Travel to France: Will there be French border delays this summer?
Photo by Ian LANGSDON / EPA POOL / AFP

This week delays in passport control at Paris’ Charles De Gaulle airport hit the headlines amid fears of problems at the French border during the peak summer travel season.

The delays were reported on Monday morning and were not a major problem – they only affected Terminal 1 of the airport, lasted for a couple of hours during the morning and queues were about 60 minutes for arrivals and departures.

But it’s caused concern because this is not a peak travel period so there are worries about how systems will cope during the much busier summer season.

Hear the team at The Local talk about the summer travel forecast in this week’s Talking France podcast. Download it here or listen on the link below

Border control agents

Aéroports de Paris – which runs Paris’ Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports – blamed a shortage of French border control agents for the problems on Monday.

Passengers seemed to back that up, with several tweeting pics of just 2 border guards dealing with all arrivals.

The border agents are under the control of the French Police aux Frontieres, and they admit that since last year they have had about 300 unfilled vacancies.

This is a nationwide problem, so it potentially affects all French airports, as well as land border crossing points, ports including Dover and Folkestone and rail terminals including London St Pancras.

They are, however, having a pretty major recruitment drive – both to be ready for this summer peak tourist season and for the Paris Olympics next year, when around 10 million visitors are expected for the Games.

Police aux Frontières say they plan to recruit 255 additional agents for the Paris airports by June and 500 before the end of 2024. For the whole country, the PAF wants to recruit 1,200 staff by the summer of 2024.

PAF director Fabrice Gardon, said that it was important to ensure security, but added: “It is the whole image of the country that is at stake, all the more so in the run-up to the Rugby World Cup and the Paris Olympics.”

So what can we expect for summer 2023?

French airports 

French airports say they have now largely resolved the staffing problems that they struggled with when travel reopened after the pandemic – although this does not include the border control agents.

At Charles de Gaulle airport a new space has recently opened up in Terminal 1, which passengers are reporting is more spacious and less chaotic.

On border control, as well as those extra border guards, the airport is installing 17 new Parafe automated passport gates.

Several French airports are also testing new systems such as allowing certain groups of non-EU passengers to use the automated passport gates, in order to speed processing times.

In addition to what is expected to be a busy summer for tourism, the rugby World Cup take place in France in September and October, and travel bosses will be using the high passenger numbers as a test for several systems that they hope to use during the Paris Olympics next year. 

British ports

Travel to France from the UK has an extra complication since the end of the Brexit transition period.

A shortage of French border control agents was also blamed for long tailbacks in the UK Port of Dover at the start of the 2022 holiday period, although subsequent further tailbacks would suggest that the problem is more complicated.

Long waits to get through passport control for people leaving the UK by ferry are more to do with infrastructure and Brexit.

Since Brexit, passport controls to enter France are stricter and therefore take longer, and the infrastructure of the Port itself means that it is difficult to expand the passport control area. The Le Touquet agreement means that both British and French passport checks for passengers departing the UK take place in the Port of Dover, while checks for passengers coming the other way take place in Calais.

There were reported problems at the start of the summer holidays last year when several French border guards were late for work, but since then there have been repeated bottle-necks at peak times such as the start of the UK school holidays.

The beginning of the Easter holidays saw long waits for coach passengers.

Although port managers are working on making things run smoothly at peak times, they are hampered by a lack of space.

New EU checks

The EU’s enhanced passport checks – known as the Entry & Exit System or EES – were due to come into effect this year, and many travel experts had sounded the alarm that the more complicated checking process would lead to longer waits.

The EU has now announced that the introduction has been postponed until 2024, with France lobbying hard to make this in the autumn or winter – after the Paris Olympics.

Strikes? 

One thing that can never be ruled out in France is strikes, and the summer holidays are usually peak times for airline or air traffic control strikes, as unions take advantage of their opportunity to cause havoc and push their claims over pay and conditions. 

Although the large nationwide strikes over pension reform are mostly over, the mood in France remains testy. 

You can find all the latest strike announcements and calendars in our strike section HERE

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Olympics prep means travel trouble for Paris commuters this summer

A summer of discontent and delays is in store for anyone using the Metro or RER services in Paris, as the capital steps up preparations for next year's Olympics.

Olympics prep means travel trouble for Paris commuters this summer

Line closures and maintenance delays are routine in Paris in the summer, when passenger numbers are down because many people are away on holiday. But the amount of work is higher than normal this year, with improvements planned on almost every major line in and out of the capital.

Île-de-France Mobilités will announce all the disruptions for the coming summer later this month. However, the schedules for certain major routes, such as the RER A, B, C and Metro lines, are already known. 

Here’s what we know and what we don’t know about line closures in the coming weeks and months:

Metro

Line 4 

Closed between Vavin and Bagneux-Lucie-Aubrac stations from June 9th to 11th inclusive. 

Line 11 

Closed on the following Sundays: July 9th, July 30th and August 27th for work on the extension to Rosny-sous-Bois. As it has since February, the line will close at 10pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until the end of September. 

Line 14

No service between Mairie-de-Saint-Ouen and Olympiades, from July 29th to August 11th.

RER A

Europe’s busiest railway line will be closed from Nation and Val-de-Fontenay and Fontenay-sous-Bois stations from August 9th to 18th; and between Cergy-le-Haut and Conflans-Fin-d’Oise stations from August 5th to 20th.

RER B North

No trains Between Gare-du-Nord and Aulnay-sous-Bois on the weekends of June 3rd and 4th, and June 10th and 11th, in either direction.

The line will be closed between Gare-du-Nord and Mitry-Claye on August 12th, 13th and 14th. 

Between Aulnay-sous-Bois and Aéroport – Charles-de-Gaulle 2, a further closure is scheduled for the weekend of August 19th and 20th. 

On September 23rd and 24th, the section between Aulnay-sous-Bois and Mitry-Claye will not be served.

Replacement buses will be in operation, but users are warned to expect delays.

RER B South

Between Fontaine-Michalon and Massy-Palaiseau, from July 14th to July 21st, then from August 5th to August 20th, traffic will be halted to carry out modernisation work on the Chartres and Gallardon bridges. 

All trains will terminate at Fontaine-Michalon and Massy-Palaiseau. A replacement bus will serve Massy-Palaiseau, Massy-Verrières, Les Baconnets and Fontaine-Michalon stations.

From July 22nd to August 4th, traffic will be interrupted to allow completion of the Massy-Valenton-Ouest project between La Croix de Berny and Massy-Palaiseau, and to continue work on the Chartres and Gallardon bridges. 

All trains will terminate at La Croix-de-Berny and Massy-Palaiseau. A shuttle bus will serve the remaining stations.

The branch between Bourg-la-Reine and Robinson will be closed from July 22nd to August 25th inclusive. All trains will terminate at Bourg-la-Reine. Substitutions will be made at Bourg-la-Reine, Sceaux, Fontenay-aux-Roses and Robinson stations.

RER C

The Austerlitz – Javel – Henri-Martin section will be closed from July 15th to August 26th.

no trains will run between Massy and Pont-de-Rungis, either, during the replacement of the Gallardon rail bridge in Massy, and for the Massy southern rail bypass project.

Works to be confirmed

Dates for works on RER lines E, D and Transilien (lines H, K, L, N and P) have yet to be confirmed.

Orlyval

The driverless Orlyval shuttle service from Antony station to the airport, will be out of service on July 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th for maintenance work.

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