The 2022 tourist season appears to have been the airport’s best Calvi Sainte-Catherine never knew. The infrastructure department was able to communicate the first attendance figures on Friday and these exceed those of 2019, the reference year in terms of air traffic. Therefore, the total number of passengers carried between 1is On January 31 and August 31 there were 266,500 compared to 260,000 in 2019. However, this trend saw a decrease in the number of foreign passengers; from 54,000 three years ago, it was only 41,000 this season. But the annual traffic forecast remains positive.
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“Air transport specialists had announced that the return to normal after Covid would not take place before 2024recalls Pierre-François Novella, director of the Calvi-Balagne airport. However, Sainte-Catherine is heading towards record traffic in 2022. It is estimated that we will have carried 350,000 passengers by December 31, 2022. The previous record was 336,000 passengers. It is very good for the future. We obviously have to thank Air Corsica, which has bet on Calvi with international lines, such as London. There was also the Volotea company which strengthened its offer in Lille. EasyJet also played the game and Transavia continues to accompany us. Business aviation is also developing thanks to the new structures put in place by the CoC. We had a commercial traffic of over 2,250 movements between January and the end of August “.
Establishment of a development advisory board
The development of the fourth airport of Corsica it will also have to go through technological advances. Due to the terrain and local aerology, Sainte-Catherine suffers in particular from a large number of aircraft diversions towards Bastia. A nuisance for passengers, an additional cost for the companies, delays for everyone that could be limited thanks to modern techniques. “The development of this airport will also involve improving the accessibility of the platformcontinues Pierre-François Novella. If we manage to set up satellite approaches, as already exists in Ajaccio, we will cancel some of these constraints. The project is at an advanced stage. Finally, to retain vacationers and barnacles, there should be a better range of times and destinations. “
Like the other airports on the island, the Balagne airport set up its development advisory committee yesterday. Its goal is to “perfect the anchoring and connection of airport development activities, periodically exchanging the works and investments planned on the platforms, as well as on the development of the network, with the local actors involved”, says the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
This CCD is made up of elected consular officers, representatives of local authorities and finally representatives of civil society. Calvian hotelier François Acquaviva has been appointed chairman of this brand new development advisory board. “I expect a lot from this committeeensures. This is the will of the president of the ICC, Jean Dominici, who has always affirmed that the future lies in the union of forces. Now he is setting up an advisory board for the development of the Calvi airport. It is specified that this is not a deliberative body. I’m waiting for the people who sit there, the socio-professionals and the region’s elected officials, to line up. The planets are already moving in this direction as President Simeoni relies heavily on this airport. We also have the mayor of Calvi and the president of ATC, mayor of L’Île-Rousse, who demand that the development of this infrastructure be a priority. It is up to us, elected members of the Chamber of Commerce and socio-professionals, to align ourselves. Where there is a will, there is a path and it leads to results. It is not enough to affirm it, it will have to be demonstrated.
“There is room to do better”
François Acquaviva has been a fervent defender of the Balagne airport for decades. An attachment that led him to this presidency. After its installation, the CCD Balagne will meet a minimum twice a year. “Economic development must also be accompanied by social progresshe continues. Everyone should know that 100,000 more passengers at an airport create 400 direct, induced or catalytic jobs. Today our airport is breaking records, but there is room for better. The Calvi-Balagne airport facility is ready, every effort has been made to ensure that it is sized to accommodate a much higher number of passengers than we welcome today “.
The ambition manifests itself and therefore everyone has the right to expect a new traffic record in 2023 and in the following years.
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