CDG Terminal 2E partially reopened.

August 17, 2004

A Paris airport terminal which partially collapsed in May killing four people reopened some sections to passengers on Tuesday, airport authority ADP said.

Six daily flights to Casablanca and Istanbul will depart from the Charles de Gaulle Airport terminal, which had been closed to passengers since May 23, when concrete, metal and glass crashed down from the roof.

A local government safety commission ruled earlier this month that all the necessary safety measures were in place to allow the reopening of parts of the terminal, built at a cost of EUR750 million (USD$919 million) and opened only a year ago.

For safety reasons, passengers will board through the former arrivals lounge and will be taken to aircraft by buses.

Part of the terminal was opened to staff in June, but operator Aeroports de Paris (ADP) vowed it would demolish the building if the structure was found to be flawed.

An official report in July found that the main cause of the collapse was weakness in the concrete used for the roof of the futuristic terminal, but it did not apportion blame or comment on the future of the terminal.

(Reuters)