A new international airport has opened at Brive in the Limousin and seems to be an immediate success, but can the region sustain another airport?

The appetite by French politicians for airports on their doorstep never seems to diminish. The French are better served by airports than any other country in Europe.

A new airport has recently opened at Brive-la-Gaillarde, around a hours drive south of Limoges airport, and within around one and half hours drive from the airport at Bergerac.

Despite the location of the new airport in Limousin it has been named Brive Vallée de la Dordogne, an appellation that is considered to have greater marketing appeal to potential British travellers who it is hoped will use the airport.

Originally the airport was to be called Brive-Souilliac, so the change of name has caused deep resentment amongst the politicians in Soulliac (Lot), who have given their financial and political support to the project.

The project is the 20 year old brainchild of the mayors of Brive and Souilliac.

They have been able to gain the support of the French government who invested €10m in the project, alongside funding from the Conseil Général de la Corrèze (€10m), the Conseil Régional du Limousin (€5m) and other public sector partners. The total level of investment has reached nearly €50m.

As a result, the airport is a publicly funded and owned project, managed by a syndicat of politicians, primarily from the conglomeration of Brive and the  department of Corrèze. The politicians from Dordogne and Acquitaine were also invited to be part of the venture, but they politely declined!

There is also consternation amongst the political owners of the airport at Limoges, who are concerned about the impact of competition between the two airports.

The leader of the Conseil Régional du Limousin has called for a non-aggression pact between them, in order that they each do not get picked off by the low-cost airlines. Such an agreement has yet to be signed, but if it is anything less than a watertight deal the competition betweeen the two airports is likely to make a juicy target for Ryanair!

However, many pundits consider that rather than looking to compete with Limoges, it is more likely that the air traffic currently going through Bergerac airport is going to be an early target.

The new airport will offer regular flights to Paris through the French regional airline Airlinair, which will replace those the airline ran from the former aerodrome at Brive-Laroche west of the town, which is now closed.

Brive-Laroche suffered from all sorts of problems - too small, a poor location, frequent fog -  and was considered to be one of the most dangerous airports in France. It received only around 20,000 passengers a year. The airport will now be transformed for commercial, industrial and residential use.

Flights to London

Between 25th June until 12th September, the operator CityJet (a subsidiary company of Air France) is running three flights a week over the weekend to London City Airport. Prices start at €59 one way.

The route seem to be attracting a lot of interest. When we tried to find a flight it was sold out on most dates this summer, and the lowest price we were able to obtain was nearly €100!

Roger Layland, who lives in the Lot, wrote to us saying: 'It is a pity that, once again, it is London that has been chosen as the main destination for the United Kingdom. I feel sure there would be mileage for this airport in trying to pick off traffic from some of the regional airports, such as Birmingham or Manchester. Not even most of us who live here come from London!'

Originally, the owners of the new airport claimed that they were seeking to attract a business clientele into the area, which would not then compete with the tourist offer made by other neighbouring airports.

However, the fact that they have attached the epithet  ‘Dordogne’ to the name really has given the game away. As a result they have since been forced to admit that they are also hoping to attract second home owners from the UK, whom they hope will want to use the airport for weekend and holiday trips to France. On the evidence above they certainly seem to be achieving that objective!

Will it Be Viable?

But the big question remains as to whether the region can support so many airports. In addition to the airports at Limoges and Bergerac, there are also airports at Angoulême and Poitiers.

The new airport is targetting 150,000 passengers over the next ten years, and it seems inevitable at least some of that is going to be a transfer from other neighbouring airports.

Until it achieves that target it will need to receive around €1 million a year in continued financial support from the public authorities.

French airlines already receive large subsidies from the French state, through the ‘public service’ obligations they are asked to undertake in the provision of flights on uneconomic routes.

Indeed, such a subsidy will continue to be paid to Airlinair for the flights they will run to Paris-Orly from Brive, despite the fact that there are regular flights between Limoges and Paris!

In addition, Ryanair in particular receives 'marketing' support from local councils and airport authorities, which is central to its business model.

So Brits travelling to France on low-cost airlines can thank the French taxpayer for the support they provide in keeping prices down!

The politicians argue that the regions get far more back in foreign investment than is ever paid out to the airlines, but there is a great deal of uncertainty about the legality of this support (Air France have launched a legal action against Ryanair), and in a new age of a financial and fiscal austerity, it is questionable whether it will be maintained.

Earlier this year the politicians and airport authority in the Charente decided enough was enough with demands for more money from Ryanair for Angoulême, as a result of which the Ryanair service to the UK was terminated.

Cityline Swiss was due to start a service this summer, but pulled back at the last minute after local politicians refused to underwrite the route. The future for this airport looks decidedly bleak.