Paris Orly: the airport guide

Arriving from a Schengen country there is no passport control at all. From anywhere else, EU, EEA and Swiss passport holders aged 12 and over can use the PARAFE e-gates, and so can several other biometric passports, including British, American and Canadian ones. Other non-EU travellers go through the EU Entry/Exit System, phased in from 12 October 2025 to April 2026: fingerprints and a photo on the first entry, so the first crossing takes longer.

Bags arrive on the belt shown on the screens, then out through the green channel if you have nothing to declare. Orly 1, 2 and 3 share one long building, so if you are meeting someone on another flight, agree the terminal number.

Follow the signs for metro line 14 to the Aéroport d'Orly station, reached from the arrivals level of Orly 3. Trains run direct to Châtelet in about 25 minutes, calling at Gare de Lyon on the way and going on to Pyramides, Madeleine and Saint-Lazare. Buy the €14 Paris Région Airports ticket at the machines; an ordinary metro ticket is not valid at the airport station.

Orlyval, the driverless shuttle, stops at Orly 1-2-3 and Orly 4 and runs to Antony on the RER B in about 6 minutes, every few minutes from about 06:00 to 23:35. The same €14 ticket covers it and the RER B into Paris. It is the better way to Luxembourg, Port-Royal and Denfert-Rochereau on the Left Bank.

Follow the taxi signs to the official rank outside arrivals and take the car at the front of the queue. The fare to Paris is fixed by law in both directions: €45 to the Right Bank and €36 to the Left Bank, with no extra fees or surcharges allowed. Every Paris taxi must take cards.

A private transfer driver waits in arrivals with a name sign and follows your flight, so a late landing costs nothing extra. It suits families with car seats, groups of more than four and anyone landing after the metro has stopped.

Switch on an eSIM as you land; taxis, the metro and almost every café take cards and phones. If you are early for check-in, Bagages du Monde keeps luggage at Orly 3, arrivals level, near the metro line 14 exit, from 07:00 to 21:00 every day, with a passport or ID card.

Paris Aéroport advises two hours before a short-haul flight and three hours before a long-haul one. From our hotels the drive is typically 20–31 minutes, the shortest airport run in Paris; leave more room in the weekday rush hours.

The fixed fare works in reverse: €45 from the Right Bank, €36 from the Left Bank. By metro, line 14 from Châtelet, Pyramides or Madeleine runs straight to the airport from 05:30 until around midnight; know your Orly terminal before you get off.

Check in at your airline's zone in your terminal, then head straight for the control areas, as the airport asks. There is no fast-track lane you can buy at the door; priority lanes come with your ticket or status, or book LE MEET & GREET Extime, an agent who takes you through check-in, security and passport control, from €171 for one to three people on the member web rate.

Within Schengen there is none. Flying to the UK or further, non-EU travellers have their exit recorded under the Entry/Exit System, and adults with an eligible biometric passport can use the PARAFE e-gates.

Orly 3 puts its restaurants on level 2, and the Rue Parisienne, a street of Paris-style shops and food, runs through Orly 3 and Orly 4. In Orly 1, 2 and 3 the free PlayStation 5 and table football areas keep children busy.