Almost 3.5 million passengers travelled through the two terminals at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport in July and August alone this summer. Long-haul international travel is on the rise at France’s third-busiest airport, which has managed to balance significant growth in flight paths and passenger numbers with just a 2% increase in aircraft movements.
Nice Côte d’Azur Airport looks to be on track to come close to matching the passenger numbers recorded in 2019, a record year for the south of France’s largest air travel hub.
A grand total of 3.46 million passengers passed through its two terminals this July and August, a 3.7% increase on the figures from the same period last year. The busiest day of the summer came on 2nd August, when more than 63,000 people travelled through its gates.
“With traffic reaching levels close to those of summer 2019, we have regained our momentum, but our facilities are reaching saturation levels,” says Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur. “This is often problematic, despite the efforts of our teams. We hope that the ongoing work to upgrade Terminal 2 will enable us to welcome visitors to the French Riviera with facilities more in line with our region’s needs once the work is completed next summer.”
MORE LONG HAULS
Much of the increase in passenger numbers has been attributed to the 13 long-haul international routes now offered by the airport.
This summer, there were seven direct flights to North America. These connections contributed to a 44% rise in passengers travelling to and from the United States and a 23% increase in those coming to and from Canada.
The six flights to the Middle East also brought benefits, with a staggering 120% rise in passenger traffic from Saudi Arabia and a 60% increase from Qatar.
See more: Lanzarote, Madrid and Prague among easyJet’s new winter routes from Nice Côte d’Azur Airport
Overall, however, European routes serviced the greatest number of visitors; 64% of the airport’s total volume of travellers arrived in Nice from elsewhere on the continent. Conversely, French domestic travel fell by 10% this summer compared to the same period last year.
Despite the extra flights, the airport has managed to limit aircraft movement. In fact, the increase in aircraft movements was limited to 2%, thanks to the use of larger, fuller planes, though there is still room for improvement.
“The fleets arriving at our terminals are mainly made up of the latest aircraft and are almost 86% full,” says Goldnadel. “There is still room for improvement. These are important drivers for reducing the environmental impact of a transport method that is essential for opening up our region.”
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Photo source: Nice Côte d’Azur Airport