Paris Airports Were Supposed to Grow This Year. They Won’t.

Groupe ADP, the operator of Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly, has revised its outlook for 2026. It now expects Paris traffic to show a slight decrease compared with 2025, where it had previously forecast growth of around 0.5 percent. Through September the Paris airports handled about 80.9 million passengers, down 0.4 percent, with September itself down 1.6 percent at 9.1 million.

The company cites rising fuel prices, capacity adjustments by airlines and a less favorable demand environment. Separately, its nine-month revenue came in at 5.1 billion euros, up 1.4 percent, with Paris aviation revenue up 1.6 percent to 1.7 billion euros, and ADP pointed to Middle East conflict disruptions to international traffic flows as a drag.

Group-wide traffic, which includes airports ADP holds stakes in abroad, was up 0.1 percent year to date at about 287.3 million passengers. ADP now expects recurring EBITDA for 2026 at the lower end of its 2.30 to 2.35 billion euro range, and the outlook excludes any effect of measures in the French 2027 finance bill.

For travelers, a flat or slightly shrinking year in Paris is less about empty planes than about airlines trimming capacity on costly routes. Fewer added flights can mean higher fares on popular trips, but it also means less crowding in terminals than the busiest recent years.

Sources: Aviation Week, Groupe ADP via WebDisclosure