Charles de Gaulle International Airport, also known as Roissy Airport, serving Paris, is one of Europe's principal aviation centers. It is also France's main international airport. It is named after Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), a French general and statesman.
The airport has the IATA Airport Code CDG. The airport is near Roissy, to the north-east of Paris.
CDG is connected to the RER commuter rail network, and the high-speed rail TGV network providing service into downtown Paris three or four times per hour. SNCF French Rail operates rail service to several French stations from CDG, including Angers Rail Station IN Angers, TGV Rail Station in Avignon, Gare de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, Le Mans Rail Station in Le Mans, Lille Rail Station in Lille, Lyon Rail Station in Lyon, Marseille Rail Station in Marseille, France, Montpellier Rail Station in Montpellier, Nantes Rail Station in Nantes, Nimes Rail Station in Nimes, France, Poiters Rail Station in Poiters, Rennes Rail Station in Rennes, Tours Rail Station in Tours, and Valence Rail Station in Valence.
Also codeshared is Thalys International's service to Brussels's Midi Station.
The other important airport in the Paris area is Orly Airport.
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History
After seven years of construction, CDG began service on March 8, 1974. Terminal one was built to an avange-garde design consisting of a ten-floor high circular building surrounded by seven satellite buildings each with four gates.
In 1975, a DC-10 of Turkish Airlines crashed immediately after take off from Charles de Gaulle, killing all its passengers.
On 19 September, 1989, UTA Flight 772 exploded over the Sahara Desert while on the second leg of the Brazzaville-Ndjamena-Paris route, killing all on board
On 24 December, 1994, Air France Flight 8969 was hijacked shortly after it took off from Algiers to Paris. It was flown to Strasbourg, where it was refuelling so that the hijackers could then ram it into the Eiffel Tower. French commandos made sure that the hijackers would not have a chance to hit the tower. 3 of the 267 passengers were killed by the hijackers after the takeoff from Algiers. The 4 hijackers would then die in the firefight in Strasbourg.
On 17 July, 1996, TWA Flight 800, which was bound for Charles de Gaulle International Airport from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Jamaica, Queens, New York, New York, exploded near Long Island.
On July 25 2000, an Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde bound from Charles de Gaulle Airport for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City crashed in nearby Gonesse after coming in contact with material that had been left by another plane on the runway. The Concorde was on a charter flight for a tour company. Everyone on board died, as did four people on the ground. This was the first time a Concorde had crashed.
On 22 December, 2001, an Al-Qaida terrorist named Richard Reid tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes onboard American Airlines Flight 63, which was headed from Charles de Gaulle to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida. He was subdued after a passenger smelled sulfur.
Charles de Gaulle International Airport has three terminals. Terminal 2 was built for Air France, but now hosts other airlines as well. The third terminal (T3, formerly T9) hosts charter airlines.
Terminals
Terminal 1
Terminal 2
Terminal 3 (T9)
See also: Transportation in France, List of French Airports
