214 million, 70 million and 90.7 million. This is how passenger traffic on French airports between 2019 and 2021. After plummeting in 2020, the number of passengers using France's airports did indeed pick up. But it remains relatively small compared with the air pocket between 2019 and 2020.
Last year, the total number of passengers failed to break the 100 million barrier. It stood at 90,68 million commercial passengers by 2021. A result which, according to the Union des Aéroports Français, has a lot to do with developments in the first half of 2021.
During the first six months of the year, air traffic struggled to recover. restart due to the scale of the Covid epidemic–19 and travel restrictions. The UAF reports that traffic was down by 78.9% for the first quarter of 2021 compared with 2019, and from –76.7% for the second quarter.
However, the second half of the year saw the start of a recovery. In particular with the lifting of certain restrictions, the arrival of vaccines, and the introduction of the passe sanity. –43.2% for the third quarter and –35.4% for the fourth quarter of 2021.
When you go into detail, the Paris airports will have suffered more than airports in the regions. This trend is understandable, given the absence of intercontinental traffic, which is a greater handicap for Roissy-CDG than for other airports.
Roissy-CDG and Lyon very hard hit
UAF notes thatwith just under 42 million passengers expected in 2021, the Paris hubs have regained 38.8% of their 2019 traffic levels. Compared with 45.1% for the other airports. The latter saw their passenger traffic increase by 37.4% between 2020 and 2021, compared with 26.8% at Orly and Roissy. The two Paris platforms still represent almost 50% of total traffic.
All in all, 14 airports in mainland France exceeded the one million passenger mark and two in the French Overseas Departments and Territories. Biarritz, Brest and Strasbourg have left the millionaires' club. As have Fort-de-France and Tahiti in the overseas territories.
Among the regional airports worst affected, Lyon fell back behind Marseille last yearThis represents a decline of 61.5% compared with 2019. This is the worst performance after Paris-CDG. Bâle-Mulhouse, Bordeaux and Toulouse also performed below average.. The number of passengers in 2021 is indeed less than 60% in 2019.
Airports with low-cost and domestic traffic holding up better
By contrast, airports with less exposure to international traffic fared better. This is the case for Corsica airport, Ajaccio down by 'only' 12.8%, Bastia of 23% while Figari is even the only airport in France to post an increase in total passengers compared with 2019: +5.5%! We should also highlight the relatively "good" performances from Montpellier and Biarritz. Both airports saw their passenger numbers decline by 43% compared to 2019.
Airlines, UAF notes the good performance of low-cost airlines compared with premium airlines. In 2021, low-cost traffic–cost accounted for just under 40% of traffic in mainland France, compared with 35% in 2019.. Almost 33 million passengers.
Low-cost traffic–cost represents more than 50% of airport traffic in the regions. This traffic a of course fell by 53.8% compared with 2019, but that of traditional airlines fell by 60.7%. In fact, the low traffic–cost now has a market share of more than 50% of total traffic for 21 French airports in 2021. There were only 15 in this situation in 2019.
As for the international traffic, it has lost 10 market share points between 2019 and 2021. It fell by 64.4% compared with 2019. More than 20 points higher than domestic traffic, down 41.1%.
Passenger traffic at million-dollar airports (reference figure for 2019) in mainland France
| Airport | 2021 | 2019 | Difference 2021/2019 |
| Paris-Charles de Gaulle | 26 196 575 | 76 150 007 | -65,6% |
| Paris Orly | 15 724 580 | 31 853 049 | -50,6% |
| Nice Côte d'Azur | 6 540 424 | 14 485 423 | -54,8% |
| Marseille Provence | 4 661 045 | 10 151 743 | -54,1% |
| Lyon-Saint Exupéry | 4 525 552 | 11 739 600 | -61,5% |
| Toulouse Blagnac | 3 821 653 | 9 620 224 | -60,3% |
| Basel-Mulhouse | 3 621 742 | 9 094 821 | -60,2% |
| Nantes Atlantique | 3 294 142 | 7 227 411 | -54,4% |
| Bordeaux Mérignac | 3 050 881 | 7 703 135 | -60,4% |
| Beauvais Tillé | 2 073 643 | 3 983 250 | -47,9% |
| Ajaccio Napoléon Bonaparte | 1 412 091 | 1 618 723 | -12,8% |
| Bastia Poretta | 1 200 201 | 1 559 492 | -23,0% |
| Lille Lesquin | 1 167 042 | 2 189 221 | -46,7% |
| Montpellier Mediterranean | 1 100 508 | 1 935 631 | -43,1% |
| Brest Brittany | 652 988 | 1 236 121 | -47,2% |
| Strasbourg Entzheim | 631 172 | 1 301 886 | -51,7% |
| Biarritz-Pays Basque | 607 864 | 1 066 204 | -43,0% |
(Source: UAF)
