The fear of an extended journey on the rails, a more “low cost” service or simply traffic jams from Roissy… Air France’s announcement to leave Orly to its subsidiary Transavia for flights to and from Nice, Marseille, Toulouse and Overseas and refocusing on the other Ile-de-France airport did not fail to provoke reactions. Éric Ciotti was the first to draw. And suffice to say that the deputy for Alpes-Maritimes had it really bad. From Tuesday evening on his X account, the elected official anticipated the official announcement with a certain annoyance. The disappearance of the Nice-Orly line is a “decision […] shameful and scandalous” which “contempts the territories”, took offense to the parliamentarian, boss of LR, who had been warned by the president of the group.
In the Riviera capital as in Toulouse, located 6:30 and 4:30 hours from Paris by train while waiting for the new high-speed lines planned (if all goes well) in the 2030s, the prospect of seeing the national company disengage, especially no longer “without any consultation”, pushed the elected official to “seize the Prime Minister”. The presidents of the Paca and Occitanie regions also denounce a “new hard blow” for their territories. In fact, the three airports concerned should not be deserted by Air France. Between an increase in power of Transavia and certain flights to Charles-de-Gaulle, “the group’s capacities between Paris and Toulouse, Marseille and Nice would be maintained at 90% of their current level”, he indicates.
“A new hard blow, while waiting for the high-speed lines”
This “project to adapt the domestic offer” would in any case be a necessity, “traffic on domestic routes departing from Orly having fallen by 40%,” says the company. Times have changed with “the development of videoconferencing, the reduction in business travel and the shift to the train,” she further notes.
At the socialist town hall of Marseille, the deputy for ecological transition Sébastien Barles also took Martine Vassal to task on the subject. To the president (LR) of the Bouches-du-Rhône department who herself denounced a “non-concerted decision” which “would be unacceptable”, the elected official recalled “that the TGV took three hours between Paris and Marseille from door to door. door “. “The citizens’ climate convention called for an end to air traffic on domestic flights where there is a low-carbon alternative for a journey of less than four hours,” he also supported, in a response to a post published on .
But this is precisely not yet the case for Nice and Toulouse, where the new situation of the French company would indeed be “a new hard blow”, according to the bosses of the Paca and Occitanie regions Renaud Muselier and Carole Delga. In a joint press release, the Renaissance elected official and his socialist counterpart deplore that their territories, “the furthest from Paris” and what is more, are still “waiting for high-speed lines [LGV] », are “once again, penalized in their relations and connections with the capital”. These LGVs should not see the light of day for several years. They therefore call on the State, a shareholder of Air France, to possibly “weigh in this type of decisions taken solely with regard to financial interests, to the detriment of a vision of national territorial development”, deplore- they.
“Economic development” and “attractiveness”
Especially since Air France’s new plan could also complicate business for these three destinations? Renaud Muselier and Carole Delga discuss, in addition to “quality of life for our residents”, the questions of “economic development for our businesses” and “attractiveness”. In Marseille, Laurent Lhardit, the deputy in charge of the economy, is rightly cautious on the subject. Asked by 20 minutes, he began by demanding accountability. “I have prepared a letter addressed to the company because I prefer to have certainty before climbing the towers,” he states clearly. I want to know Air France’s intention on such an important issue. »
In Nice, the town hall, perhaps more cautious on the question of air transport since the project to expand a terminal has been debated, did not wish to react. On the Toulouse side, on the other hand, Mayor LR Jean-Luc Moudenc assures that he has “taken note” of Air France’s new plan “with extreme vigilance”. “Let it be made clear that this development cannot result in a reduction in the level of service, particularly in frequency,” demands the councilor. In the pink city, where it takes 4.5 hours to connect Paris by rail, the plane is often preferred. So, “for the inhabitants and economic actors of Toulouse and its metropolis who have no other choice to physically go to Paris, the offer and the quality of this air connection are essential”, supports the mayor.
According to the revealed project, the choice should remain between Transavia and Air France. But those who would prefer the original to its low-cost subsidiary will therefore have to land in Roissy, further from the center of Paris, from 2026. Some observers have also not failed to note that Orly will be better connected to the capital, from 2024, with the extension of metro line 14. The CDG Express, a new fast rail line, is not, expected only in 2027.