10.2% GROWTH IN MARCH 2011
In March 2011, Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport handled 295,500 passengers, showing significant growth of 10.2% over March 2010. Since the beginning of the year, cumulative traffic has seen strong growth of 16.8%. International traffic has been the real powerhouse behind these results, with a figure of +27.6% that speaks for itself, while domestic traffic also managed +4.1%. Over the first three months of the year, Bordeaux international airport ranks first for growth among major French airports.
International scheduled traffic rose sharply once again this month: up 34.3% on last year, with 79,700 passengers. The three major European capitals London (+37%), Madrid (+40%) and Amsterdam (+5.6%) between them represent 40% of international traffic and 37% of international growth. The good result for Madrid is directly linked to the launch of the new EasyJet service on 15 March, alongside the Iberia flights.
The trend for our Swiss destinations was also positive (Basel +36%, Geneva +13.2%), as was Italy (Bologna, Milan and Rome) where traffic volume was almost double that in March last year.
Scheduled domestic flights continued to grow (+3.9%), representing 205,648 passengers in March 2011. Traffic was pretty much stable on flights to and from Paris (20 flights a day), with +0.6% for Air France’s La Navette service to Orly and -1% for the Charles-de-Gaulle hub feeder service. There was also growth on services to other provincial cities: Nice +12.4%, Lyon +5%, Lille 4.2% and Strasbourg +4.7%. It should also be mentioned that almost 3,000 passengers travelled in March on the new line to Saint Denis de la Réunion operated by Air Austral since mid-February.
Charter flights have got off to a timid start to the season, with +3.4% since the start of 2011 but -6.4% this month. This fall is explained partly by the dates of this year’s half-term holidays which were different to those in 2010, and also by a 36% fall in travellers to North Africa, the N°1 market for holiday flights out of Bordeaux. The new winter services such as Punta Cana and Tenerife have achieved good performances with over 1,000 passengers per month.