The organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympics announced a swathe of cost-cutting measures on Wednesday, which are set to slash 400 million euros (about 513 million U.S. dollars) from the Games' bill. 

The most high-profile of the changes, which still have to be ratified by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), sees the swimming events removed from the socially-deprived area of Saint-Denis just north of the city and relocated to a temporary pool within the financial district of La Defense. 

Volleyball has also been moved from Saint-Denis which does, however, hold on to climbing and rugby sevens, which will be staged at the existing Stade de France. 

The changes are expected to save 400 million euros from an initial budget of 3.8 billion euros. 

The changes showed "responsibility, sobriety, popular commitment" while maintaining the "ambition" of the Olympics, said the president of the local organizing committee (COJO), Tony Estanguet. 

"We are not touching the sports program," he said after a board meeting of the organizers. "We are trying to fit everything into fewer sites." 

Estanguet said the changes were necessary given "the uncertainty of the economic crisis" caused by coronavirus pandemic and also to offset the "extra cost" of additional sports. 

Meanwhile, "flying taxis," a drone-like, fully-electric vertical, will start taking off from an aerodrome north of Paris as soon as next June, in a trial ahead of a vast tourist influx for the 2024 Olympic Games. 

Paris 2024 will have some new sports added to the competition program: climbing, breakdancing, skateboarding and surfing.