Interview with : Chivoine Rem, Director of Toulon Hyères Airport

How did you go about setting up a year-round link between Paris and Toulon, recently announced by easyJet?

Chivoine Rem - This was done in two stages. On 28 June, we welcomed easyJet to the hub for the first time to open the route to Paris CDG. Then there was a fairly rapid announcement, in mid-July, concerning the year-round extension of the Paris CDG route and, at the same time, the opening of a route to Orly, which is proving to be a structuring factor for our network.

What do the business customers, who seem to be targeted by this launch, represent?

Chivoine Rem - Traffic at Toulon Hyères airport is fairly balanced. In winter, one third of passengers are business, one third leisure and one third VFR (family and friends). This balance explains the resilience of our routes in recent months. In summer, of course, leisure travellers are added to the mix, which distorts this proportion somewhat.

Is the request for point-to-point or connecting services?

Chivoine Rem - The demand concerns both. The opening of easyJet to CDG was important because it reconnected the airport to an international hub. This is very interesting for companies that have customers all over the world, like Naval Group and CNIM... But the Paris-Orly axis is also very important because the link with Paris is essential.

Domestic flights have not been getting good press in recent months. Are you worried that easyJet might give up?

Chivoine Rem - The limit has been set at 2.5 hour train journeys, and train times between Paris and Hyères are closer to 4.5 hours, or even 5 hours. It is therefore difficult for companies to make quick return trips by train, and the air link between Paris and Toulon makes perfect sense.

The train is not your only competitor: how can you exist close to two hubs like Nice and Marseille?

Chivoine Rem - We have major competitors. The challenge for us is to develop a slightly different offeringto provide import and export services to the Var, and an easier, more comfortable passenger experienceThis is a major advantage over competitors who don't have the same scale in terms of traffic, or the same customer experience.

Are there plans to open other strategic routes?

Chivoine Rem - We are constantly working to connect the region. Our objective over the next few months will be to open the route to London Gatwick, which has been postponed due to health measures. This will be important for tourism, but also for businesses, who regularly tell us about their need to go to London.

Thinking about the future of this platform over the long term

Are new infrastructures and services expected at the airport?

Chivoine Rem - The advantage of Toulon Hyères airport is that the concession extends to 2040 This gives us the opportunity to think about the future of this platform over the long term. For the moment, we are focused on rebuilding traffic and supporting the recovery from the difficulties encountered by the airline industry during the crisis. As the recovery takes hold, we will be able to plan ahead and invest. One of our objectives is to developing business aviationwhich is the lesser-known part of the airport. In addition to the commercial routes, this would provide much wider connectivity for business travellers to the whole world.

Isn't there already a similar offer in Saint-Tropez?

Chivoine Rem - The airport there is smaller, with more restrictions in terms of aircraft capacity, whereas we can handle all types of business aircraft. Toulon really is the gateway to the Var for business aviation. In fact, half of our flights are business aviation operations.

A diversifying industrial-military ecosystem

Which business lines are the most successful?

Chivoine Rem - Obviously, the most important route is the one to Paris, both Orly and CDG. But we also have lines that are closely linked to the historical typology of Toulon's economy, which was built around the French navy and thea diversifying industrial-military ecosystem However, with artificial intelligence, on-board systems, etc., we are still able to offer a wide range of services. For example, with Transavia we now have a year-round service to Brest that meets the connection needs of sailors and the entire naval ecosystem. Similarly, we also have charter flights assigned by certain companies, notably Naval Group, to connect Cherbourg and Toulon. Our aim is to respond to these needs, to make sure that we are able to meet them.help businesses to develop by looking beyond the regional level.

How has traffic evolved in recent years, particularly during the health crisis?

Chivoine Rem - We normally handle between 500,000 and 600,000 passengers a year. We lost around 60 % of traffic during the crisis, but Toulon airport is fairly resilient, and the recovery since May has been quite clear, for all types of customer, with traffic almost back to normal.

So the airport's future is not in jeopardy?

Chivoine Rem - The airport is a very important infrastructure for the region. Toulon Hyères has its own specific market, which needs to be developed and sustained. In fact, we have a capacity of around 1.5 million passengers. So there is still room for growth. In this respect, the arrival of new customers after the crisis, in particular Transavia at Orly, in addition to the routes to Nantes and Brest, but also easyJet, all of which brings us a new type of traveller, for both leisure and business travel. In fact, the development of the easyJet offer over the last few years has included a real focus on business customers. And the continuation of the Transavia route to Brest also shows us that these airlines are new levers for growth that we didn't have before.

After relying on Air France for many years, are regional airports now relying primarily on low-cost airlines?

Chivoine Rem - It is not so much we who are betting on low-costs as the market which is evolving structurally in this way, and the Air France group is adapting to this development. From our point of view, these are actors who will allow us to test more thingsNew routes, with a different pricing approach. This is making air travel even more accessible to the general public, and generating even more traffic. This new situation gives us the opportunity to grow, to regain the traffic we had before the crisis, and even to go further.

Does this development have an impact on the organisation of the airport, particularly in terms of services?

Chivoine Rem - It's obviously something we're looking at, and something we need to think about over the long term. Toulon is a rather specific airport in the region, and our business and leisure passengers don't really express a need for an airport lounge, for example. Instead, they prefer a ease of travel It's a comfort for these passengers in terms of efficiency and use of their time, with a much more personalised service. We can also offer meeting space rental to those who need it.

Don't traffic problems affect the passenger experience?

Chivoine Rem - That's right. We need to be aware that the airport serves not only Toulon, but also the whole of the Var region, with a very wide arc. For the time being, the traffic makes the passenger experience a little longer. But getting to Nice or Marseille is even more complicated. Obviously, the more accessible and connected the airport is, the more business we can develop. We're working on this with the public authorities, and there's a project for a metropolitan RER that's set to develop. On a more local level, there is a project led by the Hyères town council that aims to link the station, the port and the airport in this very large municipality.

Have you noticed a 'teleworking' effect in recent months?

Chivoine Rem - We don't have enough hindsight yet, there aren't really any up-to-date data or surveys. But clearly, the Var has a role to play in these changes in working habits. What's more, the development of a specific teleworking offer is part of the region's strategy.