In order to enable Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur to become one of the major European hubs in Southern Europe, Dominique Thillaud, Chairman of the Management Board since October 1st, shares his ambition for the next five years: “Our growth project will place customers (passengers, airlines, businesses…) at the heart of our concerns to better meet their expectations. Our priority objective: service quality through operational excellence,” specifies the Chairman of the Management Board.
TRAFFIC REPORT AND TRENDS
2012 set consecutive records to end with nearly 11,200,000 passengers (+ 7.4%). This success was fueled by the launch of Air France and easyJet bases, the competition on several destinations, and strong traffic in the Middle East.
2013, for its part, starts well with a cumulative + 6.1% by the end of February (+4.2% for the month of January, while in comparison, the overall progress of European Union airports is negative -3.8%).
These good results are explained beyond the attractiveness of the area and the means implemented in the low season, by the continuation of the “base effect” — since their launch only took place at the end of March 2012 — and the recuperation of some of the “lost” passengers in 2012 due to weather and strike cancellations. So, the vitality of the bases is not in question.
National traffic is the big winner of the beginning of the year with + 7.0%. Internationally, it progresses by +5.3% thanks to the Middle East (+37.3%) and North Africa (+12.9%) regaining strength following the Arab Spring.
Europe (about 55% of annual traffic) shows respectable traffic of +2.9% (compared to +4.7% by the end of February 2012).
FOCUS ON SUMMER 2013
After a year of historic records, the outlook for summer 2013 remains positive. With 9 new destinations and +5.4% seat capacity in Europe, growth is expected to be fueled by European traffic.
In total, 105 destinations (+2 compared to summer 2012) and 56 regular airlines (+3 compared to summer 2012) will be in operation with 33 countries connected to Nice.
THE AIRPORT REINVENTS THE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE
Always keen on understanding the passenger and their expectations in terms of consumption, Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur is reinventing the customer journey through the redevelopment of commercial spaces and the renewal of the offer with new concepts launched since 2012 and gradually expanded to all Terminals by 2016-2018.
Proof of the potential of commerce in transit areas, Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur is continuing its development strategy with the extension project of Terminal 2, focusing on the increase and concentration of commercial spaces in the reserved area by 2016.
