Traffic: French airports return to the level of 2013!

After two years marked by the COVID crisis, traffic at French airports is taking off again, but remains below its 2019 level. – 18.8% despite a +91.8% increase compared to 2021.

French airport traffic totaled 173,955,056 commercial passengers in 2022, compared to over 214 million in 2019. It takes us back to 2013 to match the passenger traffic level of 2022 (172 million passengers in 2013).

The same trend is observed at the European level: a recovery compared to 2021 (+122% for EU countries), but still below 2019 (-21%).

The poor ecological image of the aviation sector influences travelers’ choices. @hamsterman/Unsplash

Parisian platforms represent more than half of the traffic at metropolitan airports (53.3% of traffic, similar to 2019). With long-haul markets still disrupted, Paris – Charles de Gaulle Airport is down 25% compared to 2019, while Paris – Orly Airport, more focused on short and medium-haul flights, shows an 8% decrease.

In 2022, low-cost traffic accounted for 43% of metropolitan France’s total, or more than 69 million passengers, up from 35% in 2019. It has nearly recovered its 2019 level (1.7%), while traditional traffic remains 28.8% below 2019 levels.

Remote work has changed habits

International traffic, heavily reduced in 2020 and 2021 due to restrictions, caught up in 2022 with domestic traffic. In one year, international traffic increased by +127.2%, compared to only +36.9% for domestic traffic, which rebounded earlier, in 2021. Both international and domestic traffic remain 19% below their 2019 levels. International traffic accounted for 74% of traffic in metropolitan France in 2022, the same proportion as in 2019.

As in the previous two years, overseas airports show a better recovery than mainland airports. Passenger traffic at overseas airports is down 11.7% compared to 2019. In 2022, overseas airports welcomed 11.3 million passengers versus 12.9 million in 2019. Among them, 70% had regained more than 80% of their 2019 traffic levels in 2022.

Following the presentation of the 2022 traffic results for French airports, Thomas JUIN, President of the UAF, said: “French airports are emerging from the crisis in a fragile state, although the traffic recovery initiated in 2022 is good news for the country’s connectivity. Looking ahead, our main concern is the funding of core airport security and safety missions. The funding shortfall of the system (estimated at €237 million by the end of 2023), the repayment of advances made by the State during the COVID-19 crisis (€747 million), and inflationary trends will inevitably impose T2S (airports’ tax) levels incompatible with our airports’ competitive needs. We now have to simultaneously minimize costs, ensure fair coverage of core mission funding needs—including service quality—and repay excessive debt. Therefore, the UAF has long advocated converting all or part of advance payments into direct subsidies to airports.”