CHANGE OF PLANS Travel to and from Paris

Posted on 11/16/2015 | About Paris, France

Specifics varied by carrier, but most waivers allowed customers holding tickets to Paris to make one change to their itinerary – with a few restrictions – without paying the standard change fee. At Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris’s busiest hub, arrivals were delayed around 45 minutes, a spokeswoman for the facility’s operator Aéroports de Paris said.

Several airlines are offering to rebook passengers for later travel if they chose to postpone traveling to Paris. “Currently Charles de Gaulle worldwide Airport is open, however, we are holding our remaining departures this evening to Paris until we have additional information”, American Airlines spokesman Joshua Freed said. United and American declined to give details on the occupancy levels of their flights. On Friday BA and easyJet offered customers flying to Paris this weekend a ticket refund or the chance to rebook for a later date or to another short-haul destination.

Toronto Pearson Airport has asked all passengers flying to France to check with their airline before travelling, including travel plans that involve flights connecting through France. It said delays are to be expected due to the reinforcement of border controls by authorities. France blocked its borders after a series of terrorist attacks, which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for. It’s not just Western visitors who might avoid Paris. EasyJet said it will operate six more evacuation flights from the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el Sheikh, the starting point of the crashed Russian Metrojet flight. Holidaymakers in the UAE are cancelling or postponing their trips to Paris following the terror attack, travel agents say. Manu Mehrotra, general manager of Dubai-based Al Tayer Travel, said that the company has already received cancellations of holiday packages and flights to Paris and expects this to continue in the short-term.

“In the next couple of weeks, people will be unsure about whether they want to go to Paris. They are concerned,” he said. Australian airlines said passengers could rearrange or cancel flights in the wake of Paris attacks. Major airlines flying from Australia to France are offering flexible options. Qantas, Emirates, Virgin Australia and Etihad have adjusted their flights. The airlines are offering free flight reroutes, cancellations, or credits.

Emirates is waiving all re-booking, re-issue and cancellation charges for passengers who are travelling from Australia to Paris, Lyon or Nice up to 20 November 2015 - Qantas has a codesharing agreement with Emirates on flights to Paris. Emirates is offering a similar deal for its passengers and says anyone travelling to Paris will be able to change their flights if they want to fly to other destinations Etihad Airways have assured passengers with purchased tickets to/from/via Paris with 'one complimentary change of flight on or before 30 November 2015.' A Virgin Australia Airlines spokesman said the company was in partnership with Etihad, and that the same policies applied. According to the Foreign Office 11 stations on Paris Metro lines 3,5,8,9 were to be closed Sunday along with bus services crossing the 10th and 11th arrondissements where the attacks were concentrated.

“As of now we are operating our schedule as planned, though that may change depending on the developing situation”, he said “Security remains our priority”, Air France said. On flights to the US from Paris, the mood was understandably subdued. France has a large tourism sector. Tourism and travel directly contribute $102.6 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the World Travel and Tourism Council