SUMMER REPORT ON COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC - AEROPORTS DE LA COTE D’AZUR

A fine performance was observed during the summer of 2014, with almost 4 million passengers - an increase of 1.9% and 75,000 passengers compared to the summer of 2013.

Passenger gain between January and August 2014 was 126,280, 75,000 of which, representing 59%, travelled between June and August.

This summer Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport consolidated its position as an international hub. Of 3,955,300 summer passengers, 2,721,841 took international flights, accounting for 69% of travellers using the facility, where the offer of seats on international flights expanded by 2.4%.

International routes, boosted by an influx of foreign passengers, notched up an increase of 5.2%, with 4.7% on domestic routes. These are still the most popular routes for our passengers, who wish to "discover new locations".

It is European routes, with the largest portion of total traffic - 63% - that are picking up the most market shares with respect to 2013. The main prizes go to Western Europe and most especially the British Isles, up by 11 points against 2013 thanks to traffic increases at London Gatwick and Dublin, and commencement of operations at Shannon. Also at the head of the pack, Germany/Austria/Switzerland, boosted by extra routes to Hamburg (+112%) and more seats booked to Frankfurt. Another destination extremely popular with French Rivierans amid economic crisis: the Iberian peninsula, especially Lisbon (+65%) and Barcelona, where routes also enjoyed an increase during the summer.

The Nice-Montreal route was one of the summer's best-sellers, notching up an increase of 134%! Although for the first time two airlines found themselves fighting a passenger war (Air Transat and Air Canada rouge), the duel produced only winners, as the competition doubled traffic statistics, with one passenger out of every two!

To the east, Istanbul (+23%) and Marrakesh (+89%) are still hugely popular with our passengers, thanks to more frequent routings by Turkish Airlines and the arrival of EasyJet to join Royal Air Maroc.

In the wake of this splendid summer performance, things look just as promising for the winter months. With 65 destinations already confirmed, we have ten new passenger lines which were not operated last winter. No new destinations as such - perpetuation of routes, and bolstering of existing destinations. A few examples are the Milan, Dole, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Minsk routes deployed during the summer, which will continue in the autumn. Ryanair and EasyJet have also decided to continue operating their respective Dublin and Marrakesh/Lisbon routes. SAS will be flying to Stockholm, and Etihad Regional (ex Darwin) to Geneva. Final news item: 70,000 extra seats between November and March.

In mid-October we will be releasing the full rundown of the new winter schedule!