They will close airspace at the opening of the Olympics

The skies over the Paris region will be completely closed for six hours as part of the monumental security device for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, scheduled for July 26, reported the director of the authority that manages the capital’s airports. French.

Augustin de Romanet, the director of Aéroports de Paris, said airlines have been warned in advance about the airspace closure and will have to fly outside the restricted zone.

“For six hours, no aircraft will cross the Paris region,” he said in an interview yesterday.

The closed space will cover a radius of 150 kilometers around Paris, according to the civil aviation authority and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.

Paris will have an unprecedented aquatic ceremony—with athletes parading in boats along the Seine River—which represents the biggest security challenge for organizers. The presence of more than 320,000 people is expected along the banks of the Seine.

A French military AWACS surveillance plane will patrol the skies during the Games and will be able to use its powerful radar to detect potential aerial threats, the commander of France’s AWACS squadron previously told the AP. Other army aircraft may be mobilized to intercept unauthorized flights in restricted space.

In addition, de Romanet pointed out that there is still a “high” probability of allowing the use of electric air taxis with passengers over Paris during the Games that will take place between July 26 and August 11, something that will be unprecedented globally.

But Europe’s aviation authorities may initially allow air taxis to carry passengers on an experimental, non-commercial basis, he added.

“We have great hopes of being able to carry passengers experimentally and that will open the way for, over Paris, the world’s first flight with an electric aircraft doing a vertical clearance,” he said.

Multiple companies have developed electric aircraft models that can take off and land vertically. Some have already carried out test flights in an attempt to fulfill their promises of having air transportation that does not affect the environment and at the same time with commercial success.

De Romanet said that those aircraft are safe: “Ready to get on.”— AP