Parc des Expositions Paris Le Bourget

Description

The Parc des Expositions Paris Le Bourget is located on the grounds of Le Bourget airport, in Seine-Saint-Denis. The airport, inaugurated in 1919 on a military airfield created in 1914, was the first civil airport in Paris and remained so until the opening of Orly in the 1940s. It was notably at Le Bourget that Charles Lindbergh completed the first non-stop transatlantic crossing in May 1927. Since 1981, the platform has been dedicated to business aviation: it remains to this day the leading business airport in Europe.

The exhibition centre was developed from the 1950s onwards at the initiative of GIFAS (Groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales), to host the Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, founded in 1909 and established at Le Bourget in 1953. The legal structure derives directly from this: the land belongs to Groupe ADP (Aéroports de Paris), operator of the airport platform; the SIAE company holds a long-term ground lease running until 2055 over the centre's halls and infrastructure; Viparis has operated everything outside the SIAE since 2003, under a delegation granted by the CCI Paris Île-de-France and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.

Le Bourget's distinctiveness lies in the rare combination of covered halls, esplanades and direct access to the airport's active tarmac. It is the only site in the Paris region that allows the display of full-scale aircraft (airliners, helicopters, military equipment, heavy drones) statically on the runway and in dynamic demonstrations. This specificity shapes the programming: the site is less generalist than Porte de Versailles or Villepinte, and concentrates its major events on the aeronautics, defence, mobility and textile sourcing sectors.

Halls & infrastructure

The centre totals 86,242 sqm of covered space across 5 halls, supplemented by approximately 250,000 sqm of outdoor space (esplanades, car parks, tarmac areas). The overall footprint of the site is close to 60 hectares, a significant portion of which is green space.

• Hall 1: ~4,000 sqm, an intimate format suited to specialised trade shows.
• Hall 2: divided into three sub-halls: 2A (~10,500 sqm), 2B (~24,300 sqm, the largest volume in the centre) and 2C (~3,300 sqm).
• Hall 3: ~19,300 sqm. Demolished then rebuilt between 2021 and 2023 (architect Atelier de Midi, project owner SIAE, partial funding from SOLIDEO). A hybrid structure of French timber and low-carbon concrete, certified NF HQE Excellent and BREEAM Very Good. It served as the Main Media Centre (MMC) for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games before returning to exhibition use.
• Hall 4: ~19,400 sqm.
• Hall 5: ~5,600 sqm.

The centre also features a 195-seat auditorium, 6 meeting rooms and storage areas. Tarmac access, managed jointly with ADP, makes it possible to line up the equivalent of several hundred linear metres of aircraft on the runway during the major editions.

Access & transport

The site is located 12 km north-east of Paris, alongside the A1 and A3 motorways.

• RER B: Le Bourget station, then bus 152 or a dedicated shuttle laid on during major events. The Dugny - La Courneuve station (RER B, opened in 2017) serves the southern part of the centre.
• Metro line 17: the Le Bourget Aéroport station, planned for 2027 as part of the Grand Paris Express, will bring the journey time to Roissy-CDG airport down to around 12 minutes.
• Road: A1 "Le Bourget" and A3 "Stains" exits; around 20 minutes from central Paris outside peak hours.
• Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport 8 km away, Orly 35 km away.
• Heliport: the Le Bourget helicopter base, which is operational, allows the direct reception of delegations and VIP guests during the major trade shows.
• Parking: several thousand spaces around the halls, plus event car parks mobilised for the major trade shows (the SIAE in particular).

Services

The service offering follows the site's event rhythm, with no permanent catering on site. Services are mobilised at the organisers' request:

• Catering: temporary outlets, food courts and premium catering for major events (notably the SIAE), operated by Viparis's partner caterers. No catering open outside events.
• Meeting rooms: 6 modular rooms and a 195-seat auditorium, available to supplement the halls for conferences, press briefings and B2B programmes.
• Accommodation: no hotel integrated within the centre. The offering is concentrated in the Aulnay-sous-Bois, Saint-Denis, La Plaine areas and the Roissy-CDG airport zone (~8 km), with several thousand rooms available for the major trade shows.
• Logistics services: technical management, handling, utilities, security and tarmac coordination provided by Viparis and, for the SIAE, by the show's dedicated teams.

News

The site has entered a phase of continuous modernisation. Three projects shape the agenda:

• Hall 3 delivered in 2023: complete reconstruction and commissioning as the Main Media Centre for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The hall switched to exhibition use in autumn 2024 and hosted its first SIAE edition in June 2025 (55th edition). The next edition will take place from 14 to 20 June 2027 (56th).
• Grand Paris Express: the opening of the Le Bourget Aéroport station (line 17), planned for 2027, will transform the centre's accessibility from Saint-Denis-Pleyel and Roissy.
• ADP 2030 plans: Groupe ADP is continuing the redevelopment of the airport zone and its surroundings, with an overall vision for Le Bourget's aeronautics ecosystem (the adjacent Air and Space Museum, the business aviation hub, the exhibition centre). No consolidated public timetable as yet for the next generation of halls.

In terms of programming, the site is strengthening its aeronautics-defence positioning (SIAE) and textile sourcing (the Texworld cluster, back at Le Bourget since 2025) while occasionally hosting large-format event operations (community gatherings, niche motor shows, audiovisual productions).

Flagship trade shows

Le Bourget concentrates a benchmark programme across three sectors: aeronautics-defence-space, textile sourcing, and classic cars / heritage vehicles.

• Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (SIAE) - Paris Air Show: biennial in odd-numbered years, 56th edition from 14 to 20 June 2027. The world's leading civil and military aeronautics trade show; organised by SIAE SA, a subsidiary of GIFAS. Mobilises all the halls and the tarmac.
• Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris: two editions per year (February and September). Historically held at Le Bourget, the trade show was moved to Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in 2023 and 2024 during the reconstruction of Hall 3 and the 2024 Olympic Games, before returning to Le Bourget in February 2025. An international textile sourcing cluster run by Messe Frankfurt France. Halls 2, 3 and 4.
• Fatex: a fashion sourcing trade show, co-located with Texworld for the February editions.
• Automédon: a classic vehicles trade show, held annually since 2001, generally in October.
• Rencontre Annuelle des Musulmans de France (RAMF): organised by the UOIF, a large-scale annual event.
• Salon des Formations et Métiers Aéronautiques: the 2026 edition organised by GIFAS, aimed at young people and career changers moving into the aeronautics sectors.
• Salon des Véhicules de Loisirs: an annual edition dedicated to motorhomes and caravans.

For planning an industrial or international event that does not require tarmac access, the alternative options in the Paris region are Paris Nord Villepinte (greater capacity, 246,000 sqm covered) and Paris Expo Porte de Versailles (inner-city, public access).