Air traffic is slowly taking off again at Toulouse-Blagnac airport
By Thibaut Calatayud
Published on
3,821,653. It is the number of passengers who were welcomed in 2021 to Toulouse-Blagnac airport (ATB). A number up from the year 2020 when the 3 million mark had barely been crossed.
Traffic still far from 2019
“The improvement in the health situation has convinced travelers to fly again. This is the lesson for this year 2021, marked by two very distinct periods: a first semester very impacted by travel restrictions (20.5% of 2019), then a clear recovery from the summer, thanks to the ”relaxation of these measures (58.3% of 2019),” ATB announcement, Tuesday 1uh March 2022.
If attendance is up compared to 2020, a year strongly marked by travel restrictions, we are still far from the traffic of 2019:
“Annual traffic in 2021 stood at 3,821,653 passengers, at 39.7% of the 2019 baseline. International traffic, which is more exposed to differences in health policies between countries, was strongly affected by border restrictions (29.3 % of 2019). Domestic traffic fared better (49.9% of 2019), accounting for 63.5% of total airport traffic.”
Toulouse-Orly, the most considered line
In 2021, the most delivered line at the airport remains Toulouse-Paris Orly, with no less than one million passengers. “Traffic with the two Paris airports having represented 40.4% of the platform’s activity (1.5 million passengers)”, adds ATB.
In the regions, the line Toulouse-Lyon was the busiest with nearly 190,000 passengers transported.
At the business level, Air France still remains number one in Toulouse. It provided 57.8% of domestic traffic in 2021. “As for the low-cost segment (44.2% of traffic), it has regained and even slightly exceeded its pre-crisis market share. EasyJet remains the leading low-cost airline (53.8% of low-cost traffic),” the airport announced.
A loss of 1.6 million euros
In 2021, the turnover amounts to 90.5 million euros (compared to 84.4 million euros in 2020) and the current operating result of the ATB group is a loss of 1.6 million euros . “The 2021 financial report reflected the impact of the health crisis on the concessionaire’s activity”, indicates ATB.
For the restart to be confirmed in 2022, Philippe Crebassa, the chairman of the Toulouse-Blagnac airport management board, put on the “best reception conditions” and wants “to do everything to restore air connectivity in Occitania”. According to him, the last two lines announced from Toulouse to Israel and Cyprus can contribute to this.
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