" For more than a decade, the TGV was a drag on our growth. But we're back on a growth tangent. "Pascal Bigot, Director of Route Development at Montpellier airport, is decidedly optimistic. And he's right to be, because the airport's traffic lights are all flashing green. Last year, the airport topped the 1.5 million passenger mark, recording an increase of 4.5%. " We are back to our 2003 traffic levels. In fact, without any accompanying marketing policy, our natural growth is enabling us to target traffic of 1.8 million passengers. "says Pascal Bigot.
Except that Montpellier is now getting a boost, and the Air France group is playing a big part in it. The French airline, through its domestic and regional subsidiary HOP! Air France, is launching a new service from 1 November. shuttle between Paris Orly and Montpellier. Flights will be operated every 90 minutes on average, with nine daily frequencies - one more than in the current timetable.
" We expect an additional 100,000 annual passengers this year and probably 200,000 in the long term. "says Sylvain Jambon, Marketing Communications Manager. As a result, a number of improvements have been made to welcome shuttle passengers. A business lounge will be opened, and at the beginning of April the airport introduced the Sky Priority service, which includes priority queuing at the security filter and at boarding.
There is also a catch-up effect. Traffic growth between 2000 and 2015 in the former Languedoc-Roussillon region was negative: -0.4% during this period, whereas air traffic in PACA grew by 40% and 25% in Midi-Pyrénées. The airport believes that it has seen a dilution of its traffic with passengers from the region favouring Marseille and Toulouse, where air travel has increased tenfold, particularly with the arrival of low-cost airlines.
Montpellier will be pulling out all the stops to welcome more airlines, with an ambitious target of one million additional passengers in less than five years. " We should adopt a reduced airport tax policy for new routes, as is the case in Strasbourg, for example. And we have just launched consultations for the expansion of the terminal. "says Sylvain Jambon. The airport's supervisory authorities (State, Chamber of Commerce and local authorities) are aiming for a network of some fifty destinations by 2020, compared with 27 at present.
The airline is also relying on its historic airline operators. Air France/KLM and its partners have stepped up their activities since last year, with KLM opening a daily flight to Amsterdam and a new route to Bordeaux, while partner Alitalia is offering three weekly flights to Rome this spring instead of two. Easyjet and Ryanair are also well established in Montpellier, while Air Arabia Maroc has set up one of its main European bases here, with five destinations. Low-cost flights now account for almost 34% of passenger business.
According to Sylvain Jambon, the expansion of the terminal - which currently has a capacity of between 1.9 and 2 million passengers a year - should result in the reformatting of the central body of the terminal. " A decision will be taken in June. It is not yet known whether this will involve an expansion or the creation of a low-cost terminal of the Billi type in Bordeaux. "says the Communications Director. In the meantime, traffic has been soaring since the start of the year: +10.1% of passengers between January and March for traffic that should climb by almost 7.5% for 2016. This would enable Montpellier to gain just over 100,000 passengers compared with last year.
