Press release September 2012

A record-breaking summer! Plus new long-haul flights!

In the months of July and August 2012, Marseille-Provence Airport (mp) broke a host of traffic records:

 

• Record number of passengers checked in during a month: 893,052 passengers in July
• Record monthly traffic increase: +24.1% in August
• Record number of passengers checked in on one day: 33,954 passengers on 18 August
• Record number of passengers travelling to the airport on public transport: 110,000 in July

 

On Thursday 6 September 2012, XL Airways officially confirmed the eagerly awaited launch of its direct service between Marseille and New York JFK for summer 2013!

 

 Since end 2011, Marseille-Provence Airport (mp) has greatly increased the number of direct destinations it offers, notably thanks to expansion by Air France and Ryanair. These new services proved very popular with our clients throughout the summer season. As a result, mp airport should easily rise above symbolic 8-million-passenger mark by the end of the year.

 

New direct routes have considerably extended mp airport's catchment area. Today, over 57% of the airport's clients come from departments other than Marseille's (i.e. over one hour's drive from the airport).

This extended air network is also stimulating tourism to the region. During a recent survey[1], 33% of tourists questioned claimed that they would not have come to the Marseille-Provence region if there had not been a direct flight. 42% of them were visiting the area for the first time.

During the first 8 months of the year (January to August 2012), mp airport handled 5.6 million passengers. This was 15.8% more than during the same period in 2011, and one of the biggest traffic increases at a major European airport. All in all, mp airport has handled over 770,000 more passengers since the beginning of the year!

                                                                                            

And clients are using public transport more. Public transport usage has increased by 28% since the beginning of the year (bus and train shuttles linking mp airport to over 40 towns throughout south-eastern France). Latest addition: a bus service during the summer season between mp airport and Saint-Tropez.

Summer has been rife with announcements about major developments - such as, for example, British Airways opening 3 daily flights to London Heathrow. In addition to announcements already made by XL Airways pertaining to Reunion Island, Mayotte and Punta Cana, XL Airways has announced (on Thursday 6 September) a new direct scheduled service to NEW YORK, 2 weekly, commencing end May 2013.

XL Airways is taking up residence in mp airport this winter to operate long-haul flights. The airline will base an Airbus A330-200 here as of summer 2013.

[1] FlyProvence survey (© aéroport mp, OTCM, BdR Tourisme, mp 2013) carried out between January and June 2012 among 425 tourists travelling by air.