Paris-Orly (ORY) is France's second-largest airport, handling around 30 million passengers a year across four interconnected terminals (Orly 1, 2, 3 and 4). It is the main gateway for flights to the Mediterranean, North and West Africa, the French overseas departments, and a dense domestic network. It is also an airport with unusual operational constraints — a strict night curfew and a legal cap on slots — which makes it particularly prone to knock-on disruption. Here is how to react, and how to protect your right to compensation.
Why disruption spreads quickly at Orly
- Night curfew: no departures are permitted between 11:30 pm and 6:00 am. An evening flight running two hours late may therefore be cancelled or diverted rather than simply delayed.
- Slot cap: Orly operates under a ceiling of roughly 250,000 movements per year, leaving airlines less room to reschedule than at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
- High aircraft utilisation: low-cost and regional carriers based at Orly often fly four to six sectors a day with the same aircraft, so a morning technical issue can still be affecting passengers at 10 pm.
Carriers you are likely to be flying with include Air France, Transavia, Vueling, easyJet, ITA Airways, Air Corsica, Royal Air Maroc, Tunisair, Air Caraïbes and Corsair. The European regulation applies to every departure from Orly, regardless of the airline's nationality.
Your rights under Regulation EC 261/2004
The regulation covers:
- all flights departing from an EU airport, including Orly, whoever operates them;
- flights arriving at Orly from a non-EU country, provided the operating carrier is an EU/EEA airline.
Fixed compensation is due in the event of:
- a delay of 3 hours or more at your final destination — measured when the aircraft doors open, not at touchdown;
- a cancellation notified less than 14 days before departure, without a re-routing offer on comparable timings;
- denied boarding due to overbooking, where you checked in on time.
Compensation can be refused where the airline proves extraordinary circumstances: severe weather, air traffic control strikes, airspace closures or security instructions. However, according to case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union, routine technical faults, crew shortages and strikes by the airline's own staff do not exempt the carrier.
Compensation amounts for flights from Orly
- €250 — flights up to 1,500 km: Orly–Nice, Orly–Toulouse, Orly–Barcelona, Orly–Milan.
- €400 — flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, plus any intra-EU flight over 1,500 km: Orly–Marrakech, Orly–Tunis, Orly–Lisbon, Orly–Athens.
- €600 — non-EU flights over 3,500 km: Orly–Dakar, Orly–Abidjan, Orly–Montreal.
A special case applies to the French overseas departments (Pointe-à-Pitre, Fort-de-France, Saint-Denis de La Réunion, Cayenne). These routes exceed 3,500 km but remain intra-EU: compensation is €600, reduced by 50 % (to €300) when the arrival delay is between 3 and 4 hours.
Six things to do while you are still at the airport
- Get the reason in writing from the airline desk or by email — "technical issue", "late inbound aircraft", "weather". This wording is decisive when the file is assessed.
- Photograph the terminal information screens showing the revised time, along with your boarding pass.
- Record the actual door-opening time on arrival: this is what determines whether you crossed the 3-hour threshold.
- Keep every receipt: booking confirmation, airline emails, meals, taxi, hotel, extended Orly car park charges.
- Do not trade your rights for a voucher. A goodwill travel credit does not replace statutory compensation unless you have given clear, informed written consent.
- Ask for care rather than waiting to be offered it.
Care and assistance inside the terminal
Independently of compensation, Article 9 obliges the airline to provide, from two hours of delay onwards: refreshments and meals proportionate to the waiting time, two phone calls or emails, and — if departure is pushed to the next day — hotel accommodation and airport transfers. Because Orly closes overnight, next-morning rebookings are common there. If nothing is offered, book something reasonable yourself and keep the invoices: these costs are reimbursable.
Cancellation: refund or re-routing
If your flight is cancelled, Article 8 gives you a choice the airline must present: a full refund within seven days, or re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity. From Orly, re-routing may involve a transfer to Paris-Charles de Gaulle or, on domestic routes, a rail alternative — in which case the transfer costs are the airline's responsibility. This choice is cumulative with fixed compensation, which compensates the inconvenience suffered, not the ticket price.
Connections and overseas flights: measuring the right delay
If your single booking included a connection (for example Nice–Orly–Pointe-à-Pitre), the delay is assessed at your final destination, not on the disrupted leg alone. Losing 40 minutes on the first sector but arriving five hours late in the Caribbean creates an entitlement. Conversely, two separately purchased tickets are treated as two distinct journeys.
How far back can you claim?
We handle claims up to 3 years back, so an Orly flight disrupted in autumn 2023 can still be assessed today, provided you have some record of the booking. The process is strictly amicable: we build the file, calculate the great-circle distance, challenge the reason given by the carrier and follow up until a decision is reached. Our fee is 35 %, charged only if the claim succeeds — nothing is due if it does not.
Was your flight to or from Paris-Orly delayed, cancelled or overbooked? Check your eligibility in under two minutes with our compensation calculator, which shows the amount theoretically due and the documents to gather.