Lyon-Saint Exupéry prepares for the future

In 2000, the passenger traffic of Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport has reached 6,02 million passengers, i.e. an increase of 9.5% compared to 1999. In addition, transport service departing from Lyon-Saint Exupéry has risen from 751 to 1235 regular weekly flights in five years, i.e. a growth rate of 64.44% for the period.

By the end of the year, freight traffic should reach over 126,000 tons, up from 64,862 in 1995. After a period of stagnation, 2000 will see renewed growth in air cargo traffic (32,890 tons), up 27 % over 1999.

In five years, over 1,800 jobs have been created at the platform. This growth rate, which is higher than that for passenger traffic, significantly contributes to the improvement of the jobs/million passengers per year ratio (mppy): from 615 jobs per million passengers transported in 1995, this year's figure stood at 817 jobs/mppy in July 2001.

In addition to these results, Lyon-Saint Exupéry also saw several important events including the approval by the Ministry of Transport for its Draft Project for Site Development (APPM) and a change of name, which had a significant impact on the development of the platform and the rank to which it aspires on the international air transport scene.

Boasting among the highest capacities in Europe (5,000 acres, including 2,250 acres of reserve land) and a very strong market (the Rhône-Alpes region represents 10% of national GDP), Lyon-Saint Exupéry is now laying the foundations for its future development, with three key objectives:

• meet the transport needs of passengers of South-East France in an optimal manner
• keep pace with growth in air transport
• strengthen the integration of the platform in its environment.

This is the reason why Lyon-Saint Exupéry has recently developed a Master Plan to guide its overall development in the short and long term.

A Plan for the Future

The Master Plan, a guideline for the development of Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport in the 20 years to come, now structures the actions of the platform both in terms of expansion of its infrastructures and in terms of investment.

It is also the logical and necessary outcome of the approval of the APPM; the Master Plan of the airport is just one of the aspects of a coherent policy, consisting of several phases:

• drafting of the APPM and its approval (1997-1999),
• definition of the strategic development plan for Lyon-Saint Exupéry (1999),
• drafting of the Master Plan itself (1999-2000),
• implementation of the Master Plan (2001-2020).

Though a Master Plan may continually evolve over time (depending in particular on the air transport market and the financial capacity for investment), certain projects are already scheduled up through 2005:

• launch of the Cargoport project (redevelopment of the cargo zone)
• optimisation of airport infrastructures to eventually increase capacity to 10 million passengers per year:
• expansion of terminals
• improvement of existing runways (creation of secondary runways and taxiways) to increase from 45 to 51 movements per hour
• solicitation of private funds for the development of new services:
• 250 hotel rooms
• 2,000 underground car park spaces
• 3,000 m² for offices
• 1,500 m² for a business centre
• environmental protection actions:
• signing under the aegis of the prefecture of a charter with local associations (40 actions scheduled for the three years to come)
• preparations for obtaining ISO 14001 certification

The first phase of the Master Plan will require an investment of 1.25 billion francs over five years.

Press Contact:
Jacques Donati - Tel: +33 (0) 4 72 22 72 08
e-mail: jacques.donati@lyon.aeroport.fr