Paris airports ground flights in heavy winds

France’s civil aviation authority grounded flights at the three major airports in Paris for a period of 14 hours from Monday evening, due to severe windstorms.

Flights were halted at Charles de Gaulle, Le Bourget and Orly airports beginning at 8:00pm local time on Monday, and not scheduled to resume until at least 10:00am on Tuesday.

Forecasters were predicting that the storm would carry winds reaching 100 kph.

The purpose of grounding the flights was to assure passenger and aircraft safety, which could be at risk in such strong gusts, a statement from the authority indicated.

Passengers were asked by the authority to avoid travelling to the airport if their flights were scheduled during the 14-hour period.

The operator of the three airports, Aeroports de Paris, said that when winds are especially strong airlines “can no longer, for safety reasons, hook steps, tow aircraft nor proceed to their loading.”

It went on to say that landings and take-offs are not possible with certain types of aircraft at high wind speeds.

The airports operator did not immediately report on the number of flights affected.

The national weather service issued a strong winds alert for much of the country until 7:00pm local time on Tuesday.

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