On your marks, get set… go! It’s a simple routine, but many Olympians fail at coming off the track & field blocks and, just like that, years of preparation can go down the drain. Paris 2024 Games organiser could ill afford a bad start to the biggest sporting spectacle in the world and now seem to have avoided quite a hit after the city airport workers called off a strike that would have disrupted travel, to say the least.

As tourists, journalists, service employees, volunteers and national teams already flocked the Charles De Gaulle, Orly and Paris Beauvais airports last week, getting in and out of terminals was already quite the hassle, with overloaded parking areas, overworked taxis, slow-moving buses and jammed traffic entering the vibrant metropolis; but nowhere near the nightmare scenario that the announced strike would have signified for all involved parties, including airport workers.

With just nine days to go until the opening ceremony in the Seine river and residents growingly engaged, participating in the Olympic Torch Relay and plunging deep into Paris 2024 sponsored open-air parties throughout the city, a much-needed deal "was finalised today between three representative unions and ADP management," said the airport company, which is 50.6-percent controlled by the French state, on Tuesday.

"We're lifting the strike warning, there's a majority deal" among unions who threatened the walkout, said Rachid Eddaidj, secretary general of the CFDT union's branch at Paris Airports (ADP), after unions had called for a stoppage on Wednesday in order to press for bigger Olympics bonuses and staff recruitment. They have now secured a "standardised bonus for every worker at ADP" as well as extras for those helping with Olympic delegations and their baggage, management said.

The protest not only would have affected the many Olympians and Olympic fans arriving by air, it would also have disrupted departures and ensured chaos at the most inopportune time, as many Paris residents are also on the way out, either because they opted to go on vacation and watch the Games on television or decided to rent their sought-after apartments in one of the world's most in-demand cities when it comes to hotel beds. If the ‘City of Love’ is known for sky-rocketing prices in high season, Olympic season could very well set new records.

According to French media reports, Charles de Gaulle, Paris’ biggest airport, is expecting peaks of 300,000 travellers passing through in a single day, well above the summer daily average of 200,000. Security always being a major concern for Olympic organisers, these Games are exceptionally under threat, given the current political landscape, both in France and internationally, with the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel’s bombing of the Gaza strip.

600,000 people are expected to attend the unprecedented Opening Ceremony on the Seine and nearly 45,000 police officers and gendarmes will be on hand regionally for the event, along with 18,000 French military troops. Security forces patrol the city centre thoroughly in the lead-up to the opening ceremony, yet scares still occur, as when a French soldier was stabbed in the back by a man with a knife on Tuesday, next to Gare de l’Est, one of Paris’ main train stations. Neighbouring countries like Spain and even far-away ones like Brazil have reinforced the police ranks with hundreds of agents in order to deter any possible terrorist threats and local police are also set to keep an eye out for pickpockets with day-and-night patrolling.

Once the closing ceremony on 11 August drops the curtain on the Paris Games and fans head back home, the test will again be on for the ADP-operated Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports. The company spent €50 million ($54 million) upgrading its infrastructure and French authorities are deploying extra resources to make the experience as smooth and safe as possible.

With Paris now strike-free, ready for landing and eager to get off the blocks, the countdown is definitely on: 3,2,1…