What was the state of air transport in France at the end of September? Some good news: the passenger traffic regains some colour and seems to be out of the rut seen between February and April. A period when traffic represented just 10% of what it was in 2019... September did see a slowdown in passenger numbers compared with August. But August saw very strong demand for leisure flights. September therefore appears more "normal" in terms of traffic types.
From January to September, the total number of passengers carried reached 44.68 million. i.e. 32.2% of the traffic recorded for the same period in 2019. Although traffic is still at historically low levels, there has been an improvement in traffic since December 2020. Along with July and August, September was the third consecutive month in which the total number of passengers exceeded 50%..
The European Union and Africa put in the best performances on the international market. In September, these two market segments reached 56.9% and 54.8% of September 2019 respectively. On domestic routes in mainland France, the figure was 74.5%. Transversal lines (region to region) are the most resilient with traffic levels representing 83.4% of the September 2019 figure. Finally, on routes to the French overseas departments and territories, traffic levels reached 69.1% of the September 2019 figure.
Another positive point is the French flag to regain market share. Over the first nine months, airlines registered in France account for 47.6% of passenger traffic compared with 39.9% over the same period in 2019. While the French flag's share was lower on the domestic market (72.1% compared with 77.6%), it improved on the international market (36.6% compared with 31.2%).
Leisure" airports a big hit
Airports, hubs with heavy leisure and domestic traffic fare best. Montpellier, Beauvais, Nantes and Marseille posted traffic levels of around 40% for the first nine months of their 2019 performance. Worst results for Paris CDG - highly dependent on long-haul traffic and the hub effect, but also Toulouse and Lyon whose traffic remains closely linked to business travellers.
By September, Beauvais had recovered 77% of its 2019 passenger volume, Montpellier 70.04% and Orly 69.8%. On the other hand, CDG and Lyon remained at the bottom of the rankings, with respective passenger volumes representing 42.6% and 53.3% of their 2019 performance. With two surprises: over the first nine months, Marseille handled more passengers than Lyon, while Nantes overtook Bordeaux.
| Airport |
Total passenger traffic Jan-Sept 2021 (in mil.) |
Level of traffic compared with 2019 |
| Paris CDG |
16,13 |
27,8% |
| Paris Orly |
10,18 |
41,3% |
| Nice |
4,38 |
38,2% |
| Marseille |
3,05 |
39,3% |
| Lyon |
2,92 |
32,2% |
| Toulouse |
2,34 |
32,3% |
| Basel-Mulhouse |
2,33 |
33,4% |
| Nantes |
2,20 |
39,1% |
| Bordeaux |
1,99 |
33,7% |
| Beauvais |
1,19 |
39,4% |
| Montpellier |
0,72 |
48,9% |
(Source: DGAC)
