Today, the Supervisory Board of the Airport Management Company (1) formally recorded the resignation of Pascal Personne for health reasons, effective on 14 January 2021, and appointed Thierry Couloumiès – currently Chief Finance, Administrative and Human Resources Officer, as Acting Chairman. He will be assisted on the Executive Board by Jean-Luc Poiroux and Stéphane Teulé-Gay, who are respectively in charge of Business Development and Technical Operations. Furthermore, in response to the health crisis, an Airport Resilience and Recovery Plan has been approved for the 2021-2023 period, maintaining a strategy of commitment to developing service quality and promoting sustainable development.
As a logical choice in a career totally devoted to the aviation sector (2) Pascal Personne joined Bordeaux Airport as its Chief Executive Officer in 2004 . Appointed Chairman of the Executive Board of Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport Management Company, which he helped to create in 2007, he instilled a management culture inspired by the entrepreneurial model and guided by a forward-looking vision of the market, especially with regard to “low-cost” airlines. With the launch of the “billi” terminal, airport traffic has grown from under 3 million passengers when he took up his post to nearly 8 million passengers at the end of 2019 (3) accompanied by the rapid development of the route network. “The Supervisory Board Members commend Pascal Personne for the importance of his achievements during his 17 years in office, and thank him sincerely for his commitment to the airport’s development”, declared Geneviève Chaux-Debry, Chair of the Airport Management Company’s Supervisory Board. “I have been honoured to further the development of Bordeaux Airport for the benefit of the region it serves, and proud to lead a professional community that is highly committed to succeeding in its missions, with the management team’s support”, stated Pascal Personne.
An Airport Resilience and Recovery Plan for 2021-2023 to address the impacts of the current crisis
Since the Airport Business Continuity Plan, linked to the health crisis, was launched in March 2020, passenger flows at Bordeaux Airport have plummeted. Although the easing of national restrictions in May enabled the return of a certain level of activity and the resumption of services to some 60 summer destinations, September confirmed the prospect of a very long and gradual recovery, potentially subject to new uncertainties. Indeed, the return of lockdown in November led to a further decline in flight operations and a cumulative decline of 70% since the beginning of the year. While the latest government measures point towards an improvement in these trends for the festive season, this upturn only seems likely to last until beginning of January.
As this sharp downturn in business has made the Strategic Orientation and Airport Investment Plan adopted in 2019 obsolete, the Executive Board submitted a Resilience and Recovery plan for 2021-2023 to the Supervisory Board for approval, which has been ratified today. In addition to the cash-flow and resource management measures that are essential to ensuring the continuity of operational and financial operations in this crisis context, it plans to maintain investments of €43 million over the period, targeted on three key areas of the previous strategic plan: making a strong commitment to environmental exemplarity, improving service quality for airlines and passengers alike, and increasing the resources devoted to the key safety and security missions under the Airport Management Company’s authority.
In terms of sustainable development, and in line with the recent confirmation of ISO 14001 certification for the Airport Management Company’s activities, the Resilience Plan confirms the investment of more than €8 million, and the continuation of its European Airport Carbon Accreditation certification process with a view to achieving carbon neutrality before 2030.
(1) The Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport Management Company is in charge of airport’s operations, maintenance, management and development in the framework of a State concession. A company with a Supervisory Board and an Executive Board, its shareholders are the French State (60%), the Bordeaux-Gironde Chamber of Commerce and Industry (25%) and local authorities: Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, Conseil Général de Gironde, Bordeaux Métropole, City of Bordeaux, City of Mérignac (15%).
(2) At the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC), followed by the airlines Minerve, AOM, AOM Air Liberté and Air Lib.
(3) 7.7 million passengers in 2019.