BeauvaisAjaccio, Calvi but also Paris-Orly, Bastia, Biarritz, Marseille, Montpellier and Nice. The first three will have managed to have passenger traffic above that of 2019. As for the other six airports on this list, they recorded a fall below the national average. In total, 14 airports in France have recorded more than one million passengers in 2022. There are also four overseas airports (Saint-Denis de la Réunion, Fort-de-France, Pointe-à-Pitre and Tahiti).
UAF notes that 55% of aéroports français (49% from airports in mainland France) have rediscoveré in 2022 more than 80% of their traffic level of 2019. Total traffic in 2022 173.95 million commercial passengers (including 162.58 million in mainland France). This level of activity is in line with 2013 figures, according to UAF.
The South of France stands out
The relative good performance by airports in the South of France has a lot to do with a dynamic leisure market. This is very clear in the case of Marseille, which confirms its position as France's 4th largest airport and the region's second largest, ahead of Lyon. With 9.15 million passengers in 2022, the level of traffic was just under 10% lower than in 2019. Montpellier did slightly better than Marseille, with traffic of 1.76 million passengers, just 9% below 2019. Bastia is -4.5% below its pre-Covid performance, while Ajaccio is up 2.7% on 2019. Corsica is the only airport, along with Beauvais and Calvi, to have surpassed its pre-Covid traffic figures.
Airports in Western France remain below the French average, with the exception of Biarritz and Perpignan. The latter are benefiting from the arrival of easyJet and/or Transavia on the route to Paris-Orly.
However, traffic at the two major regional airports in the South-West (Bordeaux and Toulouse) is more than 25% lower than in 2019.. Pau airport even posted a decline of 38% compared with 2019. The Breton airports of Brest, Nantes and Rennes also had a disappointing year in 2022. Again with reference to 2019, the number of passengers was down by 35% for the first, and by 19.7% and 24.5% respectively for the other two.
Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne lags behind
Another region where air transport is struggling to recover: Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne. Clermont-Ferrand recorded one of the worst results in France, with more than 56% less traffic than before Covid. It is followed by Chambéry and Grenoble, down by 41% and 38% respectively. Even Lyon is struggling to get back on track. With 8.56 million passengers by 2022, France's 5th-largest airport is still 27% below its performance for 2019. However, 2023 should see a resurgence of dynamism, notably with the launch or return of several long-haul flights (Emirates...), Qatar Airways and Air Transat). The airport will also benefit from new easyJet and Volotea routes to Europe and North Africa.
The low-cost dynamic
Another lesson from the 2022 review: the increasing preponderance of low-cost products in France. This segment of the aviation market helped to sustain the activity of many airports last year. According to UAFe low-cost represented a market share of 43% of traffic in France métropolitaine35% in 2019. With 69.4 million passengers, its traffic level last year was only 1.7% lower than in 2019. (compared with -28.8% for traditional carriers).
The transfer of Air France routes from Orly to Transavia has resulted in a leap in the number of low-cost passengers. on numerous hubs. Between 2019 and 2022, Montpellier saw the number of low-cost passengers jump by 61.5%, Perpignan by 143.9%, Tarbes by 92.9% and Toulon by 336.6%. At Orly, low-cost traffic was up by almost 30%. This segment represents 57.3% of all passengers at the Paris hub. This compares with 12.5% at Roissy-CDG.
Of the top 15 French airports, 9 have low-cost traffic generating more than 50% of the total number of passengers. While 4 airports (Basel-Mulhouse, Beauvais, Bordeaux and Nantes) recorded Low-cost market share in excess of 70%. This trend is set to strengthen further in 2023.
