In a report published Monday October 23, 2023, the Occitanie Regional Chamber of Accounts indicates that the nine airports in the region compete with each other. The number of flights is not sufficient and the subsidies paid by the State are too high.
Toulouse, Montpellier, Nîmes, Tarbes, Castres, Perpignan, Carcassonne, Béziers, Rodez.
In Occitania, the list of cities served by plane is long. With nine airports, including seven intermediate airports, spread across its entire territory, the region beats all records in terms of airport presence. However, the seven intermediate airports only account for 14% of Occitan air traffic, compared to 71% for Toulouse airport alone, and almost 15% for Montpellier airport.
The network of Occitan airports causes strong competition in the region. • © Regional Chamber of Accounts of Occitanie
An overdensity of airports in 13 departments that the Court of Auditors and the Regional Chamber of Occitanie point out in a report published Monday October 23, 2023. In the crosshairs: airports which literally walk over each other, leading to an economic model “non-viable” which survives through subsidies paid by local authorities.
This overly dense “airport network” is observed in particular in the Marseilles-Nîmes-Montpellier and Pau-Tarbes areas. Their proximity causes “a weakness in air traffic and consequently, financial losses for operators“, summarizes Valérie Renet, president of the Occitanie Regional Chamber of Accounts. “However, these operating deficits are covered by public subsidies, that is to say that taxpayer taxes are used to balance the operation of these airports, for the benefit of low-cost companies.“
Commercial flights from Carcassonne, Béziers and Nîmes airports, for example, depend entirely on the Irish company Ryanair.
In this report, the president of the Occitanie Regional Chamber points to an economic model “which is not viable” and which raises the question of the quality of public spending: on average each intermediate airport in the region generates an annual deficit of 2 million euros. What’s more, 30 million euros of public funds are given each year to Occitan airports, excluding those of Montpellier and Toulouse.
This overdensity also poses the problem of environmental concerns. Valérie Renet reminds us: “We ultimately save barely an hour of travel between the train and the plane to go from Perpignan or Tarbes to Paris, with carbon emissions 100 times higher.”
In terms of recommendations, Valérie Renet prefers to tone it down. “There is no question of eliminating airports: they serve other needs specific to the territory. Not just commercial flights.“
“There is no question of eliminating airports”
Nîmes airport, for example, is a national hub for air rescue and civil security operations. Pelicandromes – which are used to fight fires – are also installed in Béziers, Carcassonne and Perpignan… Other airports, such as those of Rodez or Castres, are even necessary in terms of commercial flights due to the need to open up: “these are territories less well served by alternative transport to planes“. The aeronautics industry, very present in Nîmes, Tarbes and Perpignan, also requires maintaining local airports, according to the report from the Regional Chamber of Accounts.
If the airports are not in the process of closing their doors, Valérie Renet specifies that measures must nevertheless be taken by communities: “the region plays a vital role as a leader in territorial planning: it is present in the financing and governance of these airport platforms. They must rationalize this network for environmental reasons, as well as for economic needs.“
“It is necessary for (communities) to rationalize this network for environmental reasons, as well as for economic necessities.”
However, the communities contest the deficit reported by the Regional Chamber of Accounts: according to them, the economic benefits, particularly in terms of jobs, would justify the 30 million euros injected each year into these aeronautical platforms.
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