By Murielle Bouchard
Published on
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Since July 2014, date of the stoppage of the last regular line Le Havre-Lyonthe association APPSA (Association No Port Without Airport) strives to “attempt to raise awareness among residents of Le Havre, industrialists and elected officials in the face of the decline in airport activity in Le Havre”. And it seems that several projects will soon come to reshuffle the cards.
In July 2021, its president, Philippe Delebarre, received a letter signed Édouard Philippe, president of Le Havre Seine Métropole (owner of Le Havre-Octeville airport) indicating “that he had many projects for the airport and that these the latter could be validated during this mandate”.
140,000 passengers in 2000, less than 6,000 in 2021
Without hoping for a return to the golden age of the airport – which Philippe Delebarre places in 2000, the year when “140,000 passengers had been counted and where we had lines to Toulouse, Nantes, England or Lyon” – the president of the APPSA sees with this letter “a strong desire to find an activity worthy of our airport”.
An establishment “that the people of Le Havre value, as evidenced in 2019 by the significant attendance on the occasion of the centenary of our flying club”, even if attendance reached less than 6,000 passengers last year. “Certainly there was the Covid, but for years Le Havre airport has only seen small business planes or a few charters. »
One or two regular lines: England and Ireland pointed
It is therefore with joy that he welcomes the ambition to create “one or two regular lines”. Philippe Delebarre would welcome being connected to a national hub: Lyon or Marseille. The vice-president of Le Havre Seine Métropole, Jean Baptiste Gastinne, indicates, “we do not exclude this possibility”, but specifies, “the study that we have launched via a regional approach with Caen, Deauville and Rouen orients us more to a UK destination.
This study is in progress to consider links between Normandy on the one hand whatever the platform, Le Havre is therefore in the spectrum, and in particular to England and Ireland. We want to see if companies would be interested in one or more of our platforms in Normandy.
The vice-president does not commit himself more even if he confirms that the will is well to propose again in Le Havre, one or two regular lines: “Until now we have refused to put public money to attract a line. We ask ourselves the question but we have to wait for the results of the study to say more. »
More charters in the fall
On the regular lines, “Le Havre will never compete with Caen, but it has its card to play”, considers the president of the APPSA association. On charters either, “the ambition is not to compete with Deauville. But Édouard Philippe’s project is to increase their number. And there is room: in 2022, the ocean city has scheduled around twenty charters. That is six times less than in the Pays d’Auge.
“Regarding the charter offer, this is an avenue explored by Sealar, our new manager since January 2022, who is working to offer one or two additional destinations for this fall, but for the moment we have no concrete results. confirms Jean-Baptiste Gastinne.
Drones: the future
The establishment of the Normandy Drones Innovation Center in 2021 on the airport site “is very promising”, according to the president of APSSA and the vice-president of the Metropolis.
The building permit was also issued to fit out premises previously used by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation “and make them available before the end of the year to young companies working in the field of the use of drones”, concludes Jean-Baptiste Gastinne.
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The association also welcomes other projects presented for the airport:
- The construction of a new aircraft hangar.
- Looking for an Airline Maintenance Professional. Because “today if planes have to undergo repairs, they have to be taken to Bernay. This maintenance would also make it possible to receive aircraft from other aerodromes,” explains Philippe Delebarre.
- The desire to coordinate a public service delegation common to the four or five Normandy airports which will be effective “in January 2024, the call for tenders for joint management will be published soon”, indicates Jean-Baptiste Gastinne.
- An effort to make available a less expensive gasoline that is “suitable for more ecological modern aircraft”, according to the president of the APPSA.
It’s moving: a meeting to discuss it
The merger between Le Havre and the other Normandy airports is announced “by 2024”. But things are already moving, and a public meeting to present the projects to Le Havre is scheduled for next May. “The new manager since January 2022, Gilles Tellier from Sealar, will be present. He has clearly defined a development and growth protocol. Similarly, a link with the port of Le Havre has been strengthened with CEO Stéphane Raison, who we hope will be present alongside Jean-Baptiste Gastinne,” concludes Philippe Delebarre. By then, the vice-president of the Metropolis hopes “to have the results of the study and to be able to specify our projects in terms of regular lines. »
Practice. Meeting “for all residents of Le Havre” in the presence of Jean-Baptiste Gastinne (vice-president of Le Havre Seine Métropole) and Gilles Tellier (CEO of Sealar), Tuesday May 10 at 7 p.m. in the terminal of Le Havre airport.
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