Le Bus Direct (formerly Les Cars Air France) was a network of express bus routes operating between Paris and the two major airports in the region (

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...

and

Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly an ...

) and a bus route that connected the two airports. The service has its roots in similar bus routes that started in 1930. The service was terminated on 1 April 2020 as a result of the drop in passengers due to the

impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the airline industry due to travel restrictions and a decimation in demand among travelers. Significant reductions in passenger numbers have resulted in flights being cancelled or planes ...

History

The service traces its history to a service established by Lignes Aériennes Farman (English: ''Farman Air Lines'') which offered travelers coaches between Paris and

Paris–Le Bourget Airport Paris–Le Bourget Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Paris-Le Bourget) is an airport located within portions of the communes of Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, Dugny and Gonesse, north-northeast of Paris, France. Once Paris's principal ...

. The service was continued by Farman's successor airlines,

Société Générale des Transports Aériens The Société Générale des Transports Aériens (SGTA) was a French airline founded in 1919. It operated until 1933 when its assets were incorporated in the newly created Air France airline. History Initially known as the ''Lignes Aériennes Fa ...

(SGTA) and

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

, which renamed the service "Les Cars Air France" 'Air France Coaches'. At the beginning of the service, all passengers were checked-in for their flight at a terminal in Paris and shuttled out to the airfield in coaches. In 1946, the Aérogare des Invalides air terminal opened in Paris along with the

. This continued until 1961, when check-in desks were centralized at the airport. After the 1960s, Air France retained its coach service from Paris to the airports and opened up the service to any passengers, even if they weren't flying Air France. On 12 May 2016,

Keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. Based ...

began running the service and it was renamed "Le Bus Direct", and connected with the

Paris Aéroport Aéroports de Paris S.A., doing business as Paris Aéroport and formerly as Aéroports de Paris or ADP, is the brand owned by Groupe ADP that applies to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris Orly Airport, and Paris Le Bourget Airport. It is headq ...

brand. At that time, the Invalides terminal was abandoned in favor of other stops around the Paris area. The service was terminated on 1 April 2020 as a result of the drop in passengers due to the

Routes

Before the termination of the service, four routes were operated by Le Bus Direct:

Route 1: Orly Airport – Paris (Étoile)

* Routing:

Terminal 4 – Orly Airport Terminals 1/2/3 –

Gare Montparnasse Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris-Montparnasse, one of the six large Paris railway termini, is located in the 14th and 15th arrondissements. The station opened in 1840, was rebuilt in 1852 and relocated in 1969 to ...

–

Trocadéro The Trocadéro (), site of the Palais de Chaillot, is an area of Paris, France, in the 16th arrondissement, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. It is also the name of the 1878 palace which was demolished in 1937 to make way for the Palais ...

– Etoile/ Champs-Elysées * Travel Time: 20 to 60 minutes * Frequency: every 20 minutes * Hours of operation: 04:50 to 23:35

Route 2: CDG Airport – Paris (Eiffel Tower)

* Routing: CDG Airport Terminals 2E/2F – CDG Airport Terminals 2A/2C/2D – CDG Airport Terminal 1 –

Porte Maillot The Porte Maillot (also known as the porte Mahiaulx, Mahiau or Mahiot after a Paille-maille court, or the Porte de Neuilly Alfred Fierro, ''Histoire et dictionnaire de Paris'', Robert Laffont, 1580 pages, 1996 ; page 848 : "the porte de Neuill ...

/ Palais des Congrès – Etoile/Champs-Elysées –

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

* Travel Time: 45 to 60 minutes * Frequency: every 30 minutes * Hours of operation: 05:30 to 23:30

Route 3 CDG Airport – Orly Airport

* Routing: Orly Airport Terminal 4 – Orly Airport Terminals 1/2/3 – CDG Airport Terminals 2A/2C/2D – CDG Airport Terminals 2E/2F * Travel Time: 70 to 80 minutes * Frequency: every 25 to 40 minutes * Hours of operation: 06:10 to 21:50

Route 4 CDG Airport – Paris (Gare Montparnasse)

* Routing: CDG Airport Terminals 2E/2F – CDG Airport Terminals 2A/2C/2D – CDG Airport Terminal 1 –

Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris-Gare-de-Lyon, is one of the six large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and RER D ...

–

* Travel Time: 40 to 80 minutes * Frequency: every 30 minutes * Hours of operation: 05:45 to 20:45

External links

Official Site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Bus Direct Charles de Gaulle Airport Transport in Paris Transport in Île-de-France People mover systems in France Airport bus services