Roissy (Charles de Gaulle Airport)

[AmaryllisBunny]

When I was in France, everyone always called the airport either "Roissy" or "CDG." However, a colleague of mine recently told me that "Roissy" only referred to two of the three terminals... Is "Roissy" still used to refer to the airport as a whole?

Thank you

 

[wildan1]

Roissy-en-France is the name of the pretty little village next to which that airport was constructed. While the airport's official name in French is Aéroport de Paris-Charles de Gaulle, I often hear people in France refer to the airport simply as Roissy-Charles de Gaulle or even just « Roissy ».

Since the predecessor main airports of Paris are named Paris-Le Bourget and Paris-Orly, after the towns near their locations, but often just called Le Bourget and Orly, perhaps this was the inspiration.

It is true that English-speakers unfamiliar with France do not understand this designation, as in English we usually call it "De Gaulle Airport".

The airport's terminals (« aérogares ») are usually just called Terminal 1 - 2 -3 or T1, T2, T3.

 

[Coquecigrue]

Hello,

Yes, the name Roissy (name of the nearby town) is still very widely used in France to designate the airport. I only use the name "Charles de Gaulle" when I am speaking or writing to foreign visitors who might not be familiar with the name Roissy.
In emails or text messages in French, I can use "CDG" rather than "Roissy" (but never orally). CDG1, CDG2...
All the people I know who live in Paris or have lived in Paris say "Roissy", whatever the terminal. The name doesn't change, whether it's terminal 1, 2 or 3.
To prevent confusion, some brochures sometimes say "Roissy Charles de Gaulle" but it's a bit of a mouthful.

 

[AmaryllisBunny]

Thanks wildan1 and Coquecigrue, I was right . My colleague is francophone, but told me that, "Roissy does not refer to the airport" to which I disagreed (I just wanted to confirm).

Also, do some people just say C-D-G? Although less common, I have heard that as well. I am talking among the francophone or even French community.

 

[SwissPete]

In the airline industry, it's definitely CDG (but then every airport in the world is a three-letter abbreviation).

 

[DearPrudence]

I agree with what has been said previously.
Concerning "C-D-G", as mentioned, we can write and understand "CDG" but I have never heard anyone (yet) say "C-D-G", which is longer than "Roissy", which is what we use (as opposed to "Orly").