Bordeaux Airport exceeds 6 million pax

Mérignac, 19 December 2017

Bordeaux Airport is celebrating a new milestone today (19 December), having exceeded 6 million passengers a year. 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 Eastern Europe number one low cost, WIZZ AIR but also airlines such a BLUE AIR or AIR CORSICA. 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 in 2017, 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, nearly two in every four flights in 2017 was operated by a low-cost airline.

ANNEX 1 – NEW ROUTES IN 2017

Ajaccio, Calvi AIR CORSICA

Algiers AIGLE AZUR

Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt AIR FRANCE

Bucharest BLUE AIR

Budapest WIZZ AIR

Hamburg, Palma de Majorca EASYJET

Bastia HOP ! AIR FRANCE

Frankfurt LUFTHANSA

Milan Bergamo RYANAIR

Fuerteventura, Funchal, Malta, Madrid, Santorini VOLOTEA