Contemporary Art Greets Passengers at Paris-Orly Airport in the Form of a Giant Fresco by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac

Because an airport is a place of encounters and emotion, Aéroports de Paris (Paris:ADP) (OTC Pink:AEOPF) has partnered with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac to transform the airport experience of passengers, partners and Paris-Orly airport employees into giant-size images. These sketches are now displayed on the 3,200 m² façade of the Paris-Orly South Terminal.

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"Giant fresco by JC de Castelbajac_Paris-Orly" (Aéroports de Paris – Alain Leduc)

"This work of contemporary art illustrates the degree of intimacy linking the airport to all those who give it life, holding important moments of their past. It embodies our aim for continuous improvement in our customer service and echoes the desire of Aéroports de Paris to work on radiating French culture. This collaboration with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, a renowned artist, is the material expression of our commitment", stresses Augustin de Romanet, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aéroports de Paris.

After spending 10 days putting up the work of art, on 26 November Jean-Charles de Castelbajac put the finishing touches to this giant fresco, installed over the whole length of the Orly South Terminal façade. Covering a huge expanse measuring 17 metres in height and 202 metres in width, an area equivalent to that of just over 16 tennis courts, this decoration is made up of a set of 10 drawings by the artist, with the addition of "Bienvenue" in enormous letters and the name of the event, "Welcomestories".

To collect these personal accounts, Aéroports de Paris had asked its passengers and partners to tell their best stories linked to the airport. Homecomings, separations, anniversaries and marriage proposals have been interpreted by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and transformed into a monumental work of art that now adorns the South Terminal façade.

Welcome Stories, a participatory project

In August and September, participants were invited to send their stories to the website, welcomestories.aeroportsdeparis.fr

Amongst all those received, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac chose 10 of them, which he has illustrated: the first time that a grandfather sees his grandson arriving from Réunion, reliving the magic of trips to the airport as a child while visiting the Orly terraces, the emotion of a warm family welcome during a trip to Iran, etc. The artist has had no end of choices from these emotion-packed tales.

The passengers whose stories have been chosen will receive a reproduction of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's drawing, signed by the artist once the fresco has been put in place.

Whilst the fresco was being put up and until it was finally revealed, Internet users were able to discover bit by bit the Orly South terminal façade's new decoration on the Aéroports de Paris Facebook page www.facebook.com/aeroportsdeparis

Aéroports de Paris builds, develops and manages airports, including Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget. In 2014, Aéroports de Paris handled around 93 million passengers and 2.2 million metric tonnes of freight and mail at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly, and more than 41 million passengers in airports abroad. Boasting an exceptional geographic location and a major catchment area, the Group is pursuing its strategy of adapting and modernising its terminal facilities and upgrading quality of services; the Group also intends to develop its retail and real estate businesses. In 2014, Group revenue stood at €2,791 million and net income at €402 million.
Registered office: 291, boulevard Raspail, 75014 Paris, France.

www.aeroportsdeparis.fr

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