20.2% INCREASE IN FEBRUARY 2011
After an increase of more than 21% in January 2011, traffic at BORDEAUX AIRPORT continued to soar in February with 257,129 passengers – 43,200 more than in February 2010. International flights continue to drive the development of the airport, the gateway to the capital of South-West France, which is enjoying a period of growth far superior to that of other large regional airports (ranging from -6% to +9%).
Scheduled international traffic is up 46.8%, a far greater increase than that in the services offered (+38%); the flights of our scheduled carriers are, on average, four percent fuller than they were in February 2010. Routes to major international hubs (CDG, AMS, LON etc.) have seen the greatest increase, along with our network of low-cost flights, which has seen passenger numbers double since February 2010. All geographical zones (France, Europe, Rest of World) have reported growth.
While flights to Tunisia are down 17% and flights to Algeria down 11%, these drops in our traffic have been offset by some fairly sharp increases in the number of passengers travelling to other North African countries, particularly Morocco.
Domestic flights are also reporting accelerated expansion, with numbers up by 14%. More than 112,000 passengers travelled with Air France on The Shuttle Services between Bordeaux and Orly and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, with these lines reporting increased traffic of +8.4% and +13.7% respectively. As with international flights, domestic routes have seen an increase in traffic which far outstrips the increase in flights available (+7%). In spite of an overall decline this month in chartered flights (-8%), Marrakech has seen a 34.3% increase in chartered traffic, and long-haul services to Punta Cana and Saint-Denis(Reunion Island) have seen their numbers increase, with over 3,000 pax in February.
It should be noted that February 2010 was marked by air controllers’ strike which affected BOD air movements and reduced the monthly total flights number by 4.5%.