Olympic travel prices tumble as Paris experiences ‘le flop’

Exclusive: Last-minute cheap flights from the UK to the French capital as low as £27 with hotel bargains on arrival in Olympic host city

Air fares for last-minute flights from the UK to Paris are falling as anger grows in the Olympic host city about what tourism businesses are calling le flop.

Budget airlines are cutting fares in an attempt to fill planes to a city described by one hotelier as “empty”.

One traveller and Olympic fan, Rebecca Halpern of Crawley, said: “They put many potential visitors off – us included – with the ridiculous price of accommodation a few months ago.

Empty quarter: Café Beaubourg in central Paris, adjacent to the Pompidou Centre (Simon Calder)

“It’s good that they’ve dropped prices for last-minute travellers. But most people have to plan their holidays further in advance and chose to go elsewhere.”

The Independent has been monitoring flight prices from a range of UK airports to the French capital.

Many tickets for next-day departures have fallen to around £60 one-way – far less than the usual rate for peak summer. Examples for travel on Tuesday 30 July include:

• Belfast to Paris Beauvais (Ryanair) £27
• Edinburgh to Paris Beauvais (Ryanair) £44
• Glasgow to Paris CDG (easyJet) £54
• Edinburgh to Paris CDG (easyJet) £57
• Manchester to Paris Beauvais (Ryanair) £62
• Bristol to Paris CDG (easyJet) £64

In addition British Airways is offering short-notice flights from London Heathrow to Paris CDG for redemption for Avios frequent-flyer points.

The supply of cheap flights temporarily dried up due to the cancellation of many Eurostar trains from London to Paris at the weekend.

Some services were axed following the coordinated arson attacks at key points on the French high-speed rail network on Friday, while trains that did run took much longer than the normal 2h20m.

Eurostar cancelled six of Sunday’s planned 15 trains from London to Paris, taking the total number to 13 cancellations since the attack. More than 10,000 passengers had their travel plans wrecked.

Paris-bound travellers switched to air or coach over the weekend – with prices for some FlixBus journeys from London to the French capital topping £200.

High-speed train services from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord have now been restored to normal, with 16 trains scheduled each way on Monday.

Tourism businesses in Paris have now dubbed the collapse of visitor numbers le flop. The news channel BFM revealed that only 12 per cent of apartments offered through Airbnb are booked right through the Olympics, while one in five have no bookings at all.

Many hotels have far more unsold rooms than in a normal summer. One hotelier told The Independent: “Paris is empty.”

Tour guides, taxi drivers and restaurateurs are all complaining about the absence of “real” tourists. While tens of thousands of Olympic fans are in Paris, their numbers are far lower than the many tour groups and individual visitors who have been driven away by fears of high prices.

Tickets for Olympic events are widely available at prices starting at €15.

In addition, there are 26 fan zones which, say the authorities, allow visitors to “enjoy the spirit of the Games for free throughout Paris, to keep up to date with the Games, watch the broadcasts of the events and enjoy the festivities”.

All fares researched are direct with airlines at 8am on Monday 29 July.

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