Paris–Le Bourget Airport () is an airport located within portions of the communes of Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, Dugny and Gonesse, north-northeast of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. Once Paris's principal airport, it is now used only for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

, including business jet operations. It also hosts

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

s, most notably the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (, ''Salon du Bourget'') is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, the ''Groupement des industries frança ...

. The airport is operated by

Groupe ADP Groupe ADP, formerly Aéroports de Paris or ADP (''Paris Airports''), is an international airport operator based in Paris (France). Groupe ADP owns and manages Parisian international airports Charles de Gaulle Airport, Orly Airport and Le Bourget ...

under the brand Paris Aéroport.

History

The airport started commercial operations in 1919 and was Paris's only airport until the construction of Orly Airport in 1932. It is famous as the landing site for

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

's historic solo transatlantic crossing in 1927 in the '' Spirit of St. Louis'', and had been the departure point two weeks earlier for the French biplane '' L'Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird)'', which took off in an attempt at a transatlantic flight, but then mysteriously disappeared.Godspeed, Charles and Francois
"The Secret of The White Bird."
''aero-news.net,'' 9 May 2006. Retrieved: 16 January 2009.

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

flew the second nonstop flight from New York to Paris in 1939, landing at Le Bourget and thereafter continuing onward to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. On 25 June 1940,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

began his first and only tour of Paris, with

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...

and an entourage, from Le Bourget Airport. Due to capacity constraints at Le Bourget,

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

transferred all of its operations to Orly in 1952. The

was first held at Le Bourget in 1953, having previously been held at the

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

prior to World War II, and at Orly after the war. The first jet-powered transatlantic flight, which was a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

operated by Pan Am, occurred from Idlewild Airport, New York, to Le Bourget, on October 26, 1958, with a fuel stop in Gander, Newfoundland. On 16 June 1961, the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

ballet dancer

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

defected at Le Bourget Airport. In 1977, Le Bourget was closed to international airline traffic and in 1980 to regional airline traffic, but continues serving both domestic and international business aviation. Since 1975, Le Bourget Airport has hosted the Musée de l'air et de l'espace, France's main state-owned aviation museum. Following the discontinuation of regular commercial traffic in 1977, space available to house museum collections and displays has progressively increased. The airport hosts a statue commemorating Frenchwoman Raymonde de Laroche who was the first woman to earn a pilot's licence. There is also a monument honouring Lindbergh, as well as Nungesser and Coli, pilots of ''The White Bird''. On 14 April 2016, the

rolled out the ''Connect 2020'' corporate strategy and the commercial brand Paris Aéroport was applied to all Parisian airports, including Le Bourget airport. Le Bourget has been called "The Teterboro of Europe" because of the role it plays in accepting all the business aviation flying into Paris, and the support base.

Facilities

The Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA) is headquartered in Building 153 on the grounds of Le Bourget Airport and in Le Bourget. Le Bourget Airport hosts the Musée de l'air et de l'espace, which is also located in the commune of Le Bourget.

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

*On 24 February 1941, Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière was killed when his plane crashed on takeoff near Le Bourget Airport. *On 29 August 1948, SNCASE Languedoc P/7 F-BATG of

crashed at Le Bourget. *On 7 April 1952, SNCASE Languedoc P/7F-BATB of Air France was damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway on take-off. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight from Le Bourget to Heathrow Airport, London. *On 3 June 1973 a supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashed during an aerial display at the Paris Air Show, in an incident known as the

1973 Paris Air Show crash Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. *On 20 January 1995, a Dassault Falcon 20E operating as Leadair Unijet Flight 001N crashed after takeoff due to an uncontained engine failure caused by a birdstrike. *On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 attempted to divert to Le Bourget before it crashed shortly after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. It was the only fatal

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

accident during its 27-year operational history. *On 13 August 2010 a Dassault Falcon 50 was damaged beyond repair when its nose gear collapsed during landing. *On 19 November 2010 an Algerian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules excursed from the runway during landing.

In popular culture

*Le Bourget Airport is the base for the

. *Le Bourget Airport features in the opening sequence of The Protectors episode ''Your Witness'' *La Bourget features heavily in

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

's 1935 novel, ''

Death in the Clouds ''Death in the Clouds'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in 1935. It features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and Chief Inspector Japp. It is a " closed circle" murder mystery: the victim is a ...

''. *The titular aircraft in '' Airport '79: Concorde'' had suffered hydraulic failure during the attack by the rogue F-4 Phantom jet and barreled through two arresting barricades, being stopped, just barely, by the third. *Le Bourget Airport appears in dozens of movies (since the 1930s), sometimes as an active airport others as the Air and Space Museum or through their collection of survivors commercial aircraft used as a set. The terminal could be heavily digitally modified ('' Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris''), acting as an airport in East Berlin ('' Enigma (1982 film)'') but sometimes suggested and represented by other platforms (as seen in '' The Da Vinci Code'' -the real one being Brighton City Airport-).

References

External links

Aéroports de Paris
(official site)
Aéroport de Paris-Le Bourget
(Union des Aéroports Français)
Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace
(Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace) {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris-Le Bourget Airport Airports in Île-de-France Buildings and structures in Seine-Saint-Denis Airport Bourget World War II airfields in France Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Airports established in 1919 Art Deco airports Art Deco architecture in France