In 2021, Bordeaux Airport's activity will pick up with 35% more passengers than in 2020. Although the health crisis has restricted travel, it is also a vector for transformation and has accelerated the airport company's strategy initiated in 2018. In 2022, environmental, health and social issues are more than ever inseparable from the airport's development. SA Aéroport de Bordeaux-Mérignac is launching a new dynamic to transform its organization and activities towards a more responsible model that serves its territory. The objective is to shape the new face of tomorrow's airport and to achieve Zero Carbon before 2030 for its direct CO2 emissions.
The air network is reviving the connectivity of the region
The summer of 2021, and the resumption of leisure travel, has indeed marked a turning point in the revival of Bordeaux Airport. The results are positive, with 71 destinations offered at the peak of the 2021 season, with an unprecedented offer of flights to Corsica, Greece or the Balearic Islands, and the gradual return of national airlines such as Air France/KLM, Lufthansa/Swiss, Iberia, British Airways, or Royal Air Maroc. Even if the year 2022 starts with some health uncertainties, the signals are positive: 80 destinations will be offered this summer, including the return of long-haul flights, notably to Canada. In addition, new routes have already been announced: Grenoble with easyJet during the winter vacations, and for the summer program: Athens with Volotea, Malta and the new opening of Zadar in Croatia with Ryanair. Finally, the return of Turkish Airlines to the hub of the new Istanbul airport is a key factor in strengthening the attractiveness of Bordeaux around the world.
A greener, higher quality airport serving the New Aquitaine region
Numerous projects have been carried out in 2021 to enable users to enjoy a qualitative and green airport:
- Opening of the High Environmental Quality (HQE©) certified international pier offering passengers a vast and bright waiting area
- Renovation of the "P0" local parking lot (more spacious spaces, easier access thanks to an automated license plate reading system, and new recharging stations for electric vehicles)
- Installation of the latest generation of biometric recognition gates, for a smoother and faster passage through the screening checkpoint
- Implementation of Airport Service Quality (ASQ), which enables us to join more than 400 international airports that have joined this Airport Council International Monde program to measure and improve the quality of passenger service.
- Reinforcement of the welcome and information at each school vacation period
- On the Bordeaux Airport website, a search engine developed by Generation Voyage, with real-time updates on travel conditions abroad, and a chatbot providing answers to questions about travel to the airport 24/7.
- Improved accessibility, with landscaping and greening of the forecourt and the future intermodal station that will house the streetcar
- Installation of new 400hertz converters to power aircraft on the ground while limiting the consumption of fossil fuels
Towards an attractive and sustainable "place to live, place to go" airport
The Supervisory Board of the Airport Company has just approved the new corporate social responsibility policy.
"Our new CSR policy aims to place the airport in its territory by supporting the ecological transition. This vision translates into a service infrastructure that is no longer essentially a transit area, but a real place of life linked to the city, more lively and animated, with green spaces", announced Simon Dreschel, Chairman of the Bordeaux Airport Board of Directors.