Réunion's Roland Garros airport is hoping to emerge from the shadow of its main competitor, Mauritius International Airport, and establish itself as the most convenient hub for the Indian Ocean islands. Not so easy, but the ambitions are there. Firstly, because the hub is located in the European Union, as Réunion is one of the EU's outermost regions (ORs), which means that it benefits from financial support from the Union and applies European laws and regulations. "It's an advantage because our OR status allows us to benefit from European development funds and to offer incentives to airlines wishing to set up here", argues Jean-Paul Noël, Chairman of the Executive Board of Aéroport de la Réunion Roland Garros Sarl, the entity that has run the hub since the end of 2014.
The semi-privatisation of the airport is accompanied by a marketing initiative to attract more traffic to the hub. Passenger numbers have been stagnating for the past three years, at around two million each year. In 2014, the airport welcomed 2.01 million passengers, a modest increase of 0.6%. "We are in fact very heavily dependent on traffic with France, which accounts for 60% of all traffic," notes Jean-Paul Noël. "But with the French economy in recession, we are bound to feel the effects. The second largest market is Mauritius, which accounts for 20% of all passenger movements. Hence the idea of making Réunion an air hub for the region, especially as such an option would enable the €260 million investment in expanding the terminal to pay for itself more quickly.
A tactic that could also strengthen Air Austral, based in St Denis, which offers a dense regional network to neighbouring islands - notably Madagascar, Mauritius and Mayotte - as well as to South Africa, India/Thailand and Paris. "We've identified significant demand for China, due to the presence of a large Chinese community on Réunion. This community could be transported either by a direct flight or via a stopover", says Jean-Paul Noël.
Ideally, Bangkok could serve as a direct hub to the whole of China. But the journey time is long, due to Air Austral's stopover in Madras. "We are looking at more destinations in India as well as Sri Lanka. Colombo could be an interesting alternative to spread the traffic over the rest of Asia", adds Jean-Paul Noël. An option that Air Austral is not currently considering. The airline has just emerged from a painful restructuring, which has resulted in profits again since last year. Its current fleet - Boeing 777, Boeing 737-800 and ATR - is probably the most serious obstacle to a hub strategy. On Madras/Bangkok, for example, the Boeing 777 is proving too big and the Boeing 737-800 too small. This is set to change in 2016 with the delivery of two leased Boeing 787-800s and the replacement of two Boeing 777-300ERs with similar but more recently built aircraft. The announcement was made on 23 March. The new aircraft will be equipped with all-new seats and three new classes of service.
The 787 Dreamliners will enable a non-stop service to Bangkok to be reopened, as well as developing traffic to South Africa - currently only Johannesburg is served - and offering more regional routes. By 2022, the entire long-haul fleet will have been completely renewed, perhaps enabling Réunion to realise its dream of becoming an Indian Ocean hub.
