Travellers heading to Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle this morning were met with kilometre-long tailbacks after some 2 000 taxi drivers launched a rolling protest from Porte Maillot to the airport. The demonstration, organised by the "Team Taxi" collective, aims to force the government to impose tighter rules on ride-hailing platforms operating in the airport perimeter. By 08:00 traffic on the A1 motorway was almost at a stand-still between the Périphérique and Le Bourget, prompting airport operator ADP to issue an alert urging passengers to allow “significantly more time” for transfers and check-in. The protest is officially “renewable” until Saturday, overlapping with the peak Friday evening departure window for business travellers. Drivers are demanding “white zones” in which ride-hailing cars would be banned from picking up fares, a return of uniformed "gilets bleus" airport marshals to police illegal touting, and stricter enforcement of professional-card requirements for VTC (voiture de transport avec chauffeur) operators. Speaking on BFM Business, Walid Hanida—the group’s spokesman—said that without tougher controls “lawful operators are being driven out of the market by algorithmic dumping.” For global-mobility teams the immediate concern is logistical. Airline re-protection policies do not cover road delays, so missed flights will be at the traveller’s expense unless companies step in. Travel managers are advising staff to switch to the RER B rail link where possible or arrange hotel overnights near the airport while the protest lasts. Longer term, the standoff underlines the regulatory uncertainty around “mobility-as-a-service” in France. Any new airport pickup restrictions could affect the door-to-door models used by ride-share-arranged chauffeur services for VIP transferees. Companies may need to amend arrival instructions in their relocation playbooks if the taxis prevail.
Source: Le Parisien
