This is a new usage record for the airport, which has gained one million extra passengers in two years.
It only took two years to reach the total of one million extra passengers, with the result that the 6-million-passenger mark was reached on 19 December 2017. This new record comes on the back of sustained and positive growth in traffic at Bordeaux Airport, facilitated by the launch of new international routes and increase in low-cost flights. At the peak of the 2017 season, there were direct flights available to 90 destinations from Bordeaux.
Traffic has gone up by more than 80% since 2009, growing from 3.3 million passengers in that year to more than 6 million in 2017. This year has also seen the airport succeed in its aim to attract big-name airlines, such as Germany’s Lufthansa and Wizz Air – Eastern Europe’s number-one low-cost airline. This year, no fewer than 31 airline companies will have shared the runways at Bordeaux.
International traffic – the driving force behind this growth – exceeded 3 million passengers, thanks to the launch of 14 new routes (see Annex 1) and provision of extra capacity on many existing routes. Access to 10 continental hubs (see Annex 2) opened up myriad other possibilities around the globe.
Growth was also underpinned by the low-cost carriers, offering around 60 destinations, including eight new ones in 2017, such as Budapest, launched this winter, Malta and Hamburg. The rapid development of the low-cost sector continues apace. Volotea grew by 48% and Ryanair by 26%, while Easyjet – the airline with the second-highest volume of traffic, after the Air France-KLM group - is due to open a base in Bordeaux in March 2018. Overall, one in every four flights in 2017 was operated by a low-cost airline.
Commenting on this year’s results, the Chairman of the Bordeaux Airport Management Board, Pascal Personne, said: “Against the background of the competition between the Air France shuttle service and the train, we have recorded largely positive growth. The Paris route has obviously been affected, but Air France’s ability to respond commercially, as well as the traffic generated by new routes and schedule additions, have largely made up for any losses in this respect.”
