Toulouse-Blagnac airport in times of health crisis. – FRED SCHEIBER / SIPA
- To boost passenger traffic, which has been in free fall since the start of the health crisis, Toulouse-Blagnac airport is offering 66 destinations this summer.
- They are mainly oriented towards Europe and the Mediterranean, easy to access with a PCR test and secure.
- To fight against the “airplane-bashing” trend, the platform has decided to focus on its actions in terms of sustainable development.
It’s not easy to go from more than 9.2 million passengers in 2019 to three times fewer the following year. For a year, Toulouse-Blagnac airport (ATB) has been trying to limit the damage resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. To achieve this, those responsible for the platform have decided to play it safe. “Our priority is to offer a pleasant and serene trip for all passengers”, hammered this Thursday Philippe Crébassa, the president of the
ATB Executive Board which unveiled a new visual identity for the airport.
This requires the continuation of measures, such as keeping the Covid-19 and PCR tests in the public area. It must be said that the latter are now compulsory to leave the borders. A precious sesame, less than 72 hours old, requested by most countries in Europe or the Mediterranean basin. And it is to these destinations that those responsible for developing traffic have bet for the recovery. It is indeed difficult to turn to countries like Canada which impose a fortnight of isolation on its visitors.
PCR test, the key to destinations
“The PCR test is a real argument, which makes it possible to travel easily and serenely in Europe and to sunny destinations. In Latin America or Africa, it remains complicated, people do not know if they will get stuck, ”said Catherine Gay, director of strategy for the airport.
In total, 66 destinations are on offer from Toulouse this summer, with a new offer to Las Palmas, in the Canaries. The return of a Ryanair base makes it possible to relaunch its lines to Europe, including Corsica, Ibiza, Figari or even Menorca, in the Balearics.
EasyJet has decided for its part to open a line to Rennes and Transavia to Brest when Air France will launch two flights per week to Algiers and Oran as soon as the borders with Algeria are reopened.
This summer, passengers will fly to 66 destinations including: Las Palmas, Ibiza, Menorca, Madrid, Oujda, Algiers, Oran, Luxembourg, Figari, Lille, Rennes, Brest or Nantes! ✈️🌍😍
The airport will welcome 25 companies, including a new one in Toulouse (@BinterCanarias). 🙌 pic.twitter.com/HaT8U4DpYZ– Toulouse Airport (@aeroport_tls) May 20, 2021
The platform is also counting on the return of economic meetings, in particular those which will take place at the new neighboring congress center, the MEET, which will take office next September, with the Toulouse Fair. Because for the moment, the business clientele, which represents a good part of the traffic, has not yet returned to the airport. Video conferencing habits and corporate travel budget cuts have had a strong impact, which is expected to last. “Fortunately, in the past months, flights to Paris have been going well. But we do not expect to return to the 2019 traffic level before 2025-2026 ”, continues Catherine Gay.
To counter the underlying trend of plane-bashing and win back some of the passengers sensitive to environmental issues, ATB has also decided to play the “sustainable development” card. Its management will therefore put action on its biomass boiler, which is to supply heating to three of the four halls of the terminal in October, or its accreditation for carbon neutrality this year.