Pic shows no-fly zone the size of BELGIUM over Paris Olympics opening ceremony after sabotage attacks across France
AN INCREDIBLE picture shows the giant no-fly zone protecting Paris during the Olympics opening ceremony.
France has been plagued by worrying sabotage attacks in the past few days as a mammoth security op Friday evening saw all flights banned during the historic event.
The decision meant an impressive 80 nautical mile radius – the same size as Belgium – was left completely free of aircraft for over five hours.
Friday’s FlightRadar maps show the sky was clear between 4pm and 9:30pm in the French capital away from the lashing rain.
The sudden drop in air traffic quickly caused the map to open up just an hour after the 3pm restrictions from French officials took effect.
Due to the flight bans airports reported a huge drop off in the number of flights leaving and arriving from France.
One of France’s biggest aviation hubs Charles de Gaulle Airport reported around 300 fewer flights on Friday compared to the previous week.
Orly airport also recorded 200 fewer flights.
Six other airports were said to have been hit by the ban including Le Bourget Airport, Paris-Saclay-Versailles Airport, Melun Villaroche Airport, Pontoise Cormeilles Airport, Lognes – Émerainville Aerodrome and BVA Beauvais-Tille Airport.
The Paris 2024 fight restrictions were rolled out in three phases beginning with all plane’s coming into Paris stopping at 3pm local time on Friday.
Phase two quickly followed as none were allowed to take-off within the zone between the restricted hours.
Overall, 2,200 flights were disrupted with Air France, Ryanair and easyJet being hit the hardest, according to Flightradar24 data.
The third phase saw the gradual reopening of terminals at 9:30pm when the opening ceremony was nearing its conclusion.
However, from between 9:30pm till 10pm only certain flights were allowed to leave from Charles de Gaulle Airport and no where else.
All restrictions were then lifted at 10:15pm as the sky started to fill up with planes once again.
The no-fly zone was just one of many restrictions in place for the Olympics.
Heavily armed special forces soldiers were drafted in to patrol the streets of the French capital and the water of the Seine ahead of the global celebration.
With drones, and jets and AI also rolled out to keep the citizens, tourists, celebrities and athletes safe.
The French interior minister announced they have already foiled four different plots to sabotage the Paris Olympics.
However one plot managed to throw Paris into chaos as public transport in the capital was at a standstill on Friday morning.
A spokesman for France’s huge rail operator SNCF said it was the victim of “a massive arson attack” that paralysed its network.
The first blaze was detected early on Friday morning near tracks a Courtalain, in the Eure-et-Loir department.
It caused the interruption of traffic on the hugely busy Atlantique high-speed line.
SNCF then said a “malicious act” on the high-speed line between Lille and Paris was also felt.
Train operators cancelled or delayed trains with travellers told not to go to the station – leaving crowded platforms and frustrated passengers.
The Eurostar was forced to cancel 25 per cent of its trips between Paris and St Pancras well into next week.
Following the train assaults, French airport Basel-Mulhouse was evacuated over a bomb threat.
The airport, near the Swiss border, was brought to a halt with “security” concerns plunging the aviation hub into chaos.
On its website, Basel-Mulhouse EuroAirport had said: “For safety reasons, the terminal had to be evacuated and is currently closed.”
A whopping 800,000 travellers are set to be affected across the weekend.
Patrice Vergriete, acting transport minister, said the authorities were “preparing themselves” for more potential attacks as the Games go on.
French media cited sources describing the railway attack as a “coordinated” and “studied sabotage” on strategic points of the network.
It is unknown who carried out the attack yet, but Russia, Iran, and extreme anarchists and leftists have all been suspected.
A security expert has speculated Vladimir Putin could be behind the anarchy, while the Israelis have claimed it is the Iranians.
US intelligence officials have said the culprits could likely be anarchists or extreme leftists, according to NBC.
Seven environmentalists were also arrested today in Bois de Vincennes after they were allegedly caught climbing trees overlooking the cycling time trial track.
The activists were suspected of wanting to target tomorrow’s time trial race , Le Parisien reported.
Increased AI surveillance cameras have already been deployed across Paris to monitor those threats and the millions of visitors expected in the coming weeks.
An influx of additional security cameras are stationed across the city with organisers using AI to scan through the streets to ensure safety and security.
Gabriel Attal, the French prime minister, said saboteurs “knew where to hit” and they had “knowledge of the network”.
Attal said: “What we know, what we can see is that this operation has been planned, coordinated, that key points have been targeted which shows a kind of knowledge of the [train] network.
“They knew where to hit. I can’t say more on the culprits and their motives.”
To counter the attacks SNCF has announced plans to draft in a huge security operation of their own to help with travel this weekend.
The company said 1,000 workers, 40 railway police teams and 50 drones are set to be deployed to monitor the whole network.
A statement said: “In coordination with the forces of law and order, surveillance of the network has been stepped up on the ground and in the air, using both human and technical resources.”