This is a real improvement in French air transport since the beginning of the year, although June saw a slight fall in traffic. According to DGAC statistics, French air transport recorded 61.71 million passengers in the first half of the year. This figure corresponds to 72.2% of traffic for the same period in 2019.. In June, passenger numbers reached the 2019 level of 82.5%. However, this was down on May, which stood at 86.1%.
Overseas traffic almost at 2019 levels
However, the underlying trend remains positive. In the first quarter, the level of traffic represented "only" 61% of the traffic for the first quarter of 2019. If we look at the evolution of traffic by bundle, spectacular recovery on domestic routes. The total number of domestic passengers reached 13.16 million, equivalent to 79.1% for the same period in 2019.
This traffic is strongly influenced by the very good results on routes between mainland France and the overseas territories and regions. This segment is now only 9 points below the first half of 2019. On the mainland-La Réunion route, traffic over the first six months is even 3% higher than in 2019.
On domestic routes in mainland France, Paris-Nice was only 12 points below its cumulative passenger traffic for 2019 in the first half of the year.
International business driven by Southern Europe and Turkey
The number of passengers on the international segment from mainland France reached 48.06 million in the first half of the year.. It is equivalent to 71.2% from 2019 level. On theEuropean Union however, the catch-up is higher, at 78,3% of the 2019 level.
Looking at trends by country, only one route is currently seeing higher traffic than in 2019. This brought the total number of passengers to 1.37 million, including Turkey.1.1% higher than in 2019.
Among the countries doing better than average internationally areSpain where traffic is 87.4% higher than in 2019, the Tunisia at 85.4%, Italy at 77.9% and Canada at 74.5%. Outside Asia, the most disappointing results were for France-United Arab Emirates (63%), France-Brazil (60.8%), France-United Kingdom (58.5%) and France-Germany (57.9%).
No surprise there, the France-Asia route shows the worst traffic performance. In the first six months of 2022, 2.72 million passengers travelled on these routes, i.e. 42.7% of 2019 level. And this figure also includes traffic to the Gulf region! In detail, the number of passengers on Japan reached 20.5% to its 2019 level and the China is even worse, at just 3,9%.
Beauvais soars, but Roissy and Lyon struggle
Finally, on the airport front, Beauvais has seen the most spectacular turnaround. At the end of June, the low-cost platform recorded a 6.3% increase in passenger numbers compared with 2019. Marseille came second with 86.7% of its 2019 level. It is followed by Nice 79.5% and Paris-Orly with 78.9%. In July, the Paris airport finally exceeded its 2019 figures.
Roissy CDG and Lyon, on the other hand, are lagging behind. At the end of June, their combined passenger traffic amounted to only 68,3% and 67,3% figures for the first half of 2019. Lyon came last in the top 10 French airports.
Could soaring prices now be putting the brakes on demand?
There is, however, some very bad news: soaring ticket pricesThis is mainly due to soaring energy prices. But it is also due to inflation and wage increases in a sector under pressure following the departure of many employees. According to the Civil Aviation Authority's air transport price index, air fares from France rose by an average of 43.5 % in Julycompared with July 2021. Prices have also jumped by more than a third compared with July 2019.
Curiously, it is thehe biggest increases on intra-European routesto more than 50%. Since January 2022, the increase has been 19.3%. With no prospect of moderation over the coming months.
(Updated on 23/08/2022)
