Bordeaux Airport sees passenger numbers up 20% for the first four months of 2011
It should come as no surprise that April 2011 saw passenger numbers up 28% from last year, as the Icelandic volcano crisis severely affected air traffic in April 2010 (-4%). The ash cloud caused 562 flight cancellations, a loss of 35,000 passengers. Even with Bordeaux standing in for the Parisian airports for long-haul flights coming in from the west (Antilles, USA, South America), this additional traffic (6,000 passengers) was not enough to compensate for the losses suffered on our regular flight network, particularly on our northern Europe lines.
But on a more fundamental level the excellent statistics recorded for April 2011 are part of the growth trend which has boosted Bordeaux Airport’s results over the last year. 2010 saw a 10.8% increase in passenger traffic, and the first months of 2011 have maintained this growth:
January: +22.6% February: +21.5% March: +11.9% April: +28%
These last few weeks have seen the opening of new flights: to Saint-Denis - La Reunion by Air Austral, Lisbon where TAP is daily joining its South American hub in competition with a daily Air France flight, Madrid where easyJet now competes with Iberia, Barcelona where the new Vueling operations are facing Air France and its two daily flights.
From January to end of April, nearly 200,000 new passenger movements have been created. Among those, 60% are encountered by low fare operators. The airport good results have been seen in all sectors, but the greatest success has clearly been the rise in international traffic, with an overall increase of 37% since the start of the year.
The opening of several new routes has played a part in this increase, but it is above all the services connecting Bordeaux to major national and international hubs which have yielded the best results (Rome +101%, London +46%, Lisbon +38%, Madrid +36%, Casablanca +35%, Amsterdam +14%, CDG +12%).
Bordeaux’s economy is in rude health A number of the local economy’s key sectors are enjoying great success in the major international markets (Asia, the Americas). These include the space and aeronautical industries, laser technologies (with installations which are the only facilities of their kind in the world), certain agricultural commodities such as corn (of which the region is Europe’s largest producer) and other food products.
Even Bordeaux’s iconic wines have seen demand increase in a number of countries. The ‘primeur’ sales of the latest vintage, held a few weeks ago, were a great success for Bordeaux’s many chateaux and wine merchants.
Meanwhile, Bordeaux urban authorities continue to pursue an ambitious policy of public works (new bridges, a major football stadium, expansion of the tram network, major cultural facilities...).
Though Bordeaux and its region have been making a positive contribution to the national trade balance for years (exports exceed imports), in recent months international exports have reached unprecedented heights.
All of which has combined to increase the level of air traffic, for both business and pleasure, in the region of which Bordeaux is capital. Even the airport’s charter traffic has taken off, with a 40% increase since the start of the year.