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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Montpellier Airport
Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport or Aéroport de Montpellier–Méditerranée (IATA: MPL, ICAO: LFMT), also known as Fréjorgues Airport, is an airport in southern France. It is located 7 km (4 nautical miles) east-southeast of Montpellier in Mauguio, in the Hérault department of the Occitanie region in France. The airport opened in 1946, 8 years after the first flight to the area.

The airport carries the 10th largest number of passengers in France (over 1.18 million in 2010). A campus of the École nationale de l'aviation civile (French civil aviation university) is also located at the airport.

History

The Beginnings

In 1938  the first aircraft landed at Fréjorgues. During 1944, the airport was used by the Luftwaffe and subsequently bombed by the 15th USAAF on 27 January. It faced another bombing on Saturday, 27 May 1944 carried out by four bomber groups of the 304th Bomber Wing.

The post-war period

In 1946 significant improvements were made to facilitate the opening of the civil terminal. By 1964, the Montpellier Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIM) had obtained the temporary commercial management of the airport.

From the 1970s onwards

In 1974 the Montpellier Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIM) secured a commercial operating permit for a duration of 30 years.

From the 1990s onwards

In 1990 the airport's passenger numbers reached the one million mark. The inauguration of the new terminal building, covering an area of 14,000 m2, provided enhanced facilities for the passengers. Access to aircraft is provided by three passenger jet bridges and two mobile pre-bridges. On 1 February 1994, Montpellier-Fréjorgues airport officially became Montpellier-Méditerranée airport. In 1998, the airport surpassed the 1.5 million passenger mark.

The year 2000 marked Montpellier-Méditerannée airport's ascent to becoming the 9th largest French airport with 1.75 million passengers – an increase of 18% compared to 1996. However, the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the introduction of the TGV Méditerannée line and the departure of Air Liberté led to a decline in traffic. In 2002, the airport introduced its first low-cost airline service. The same year, it obtained the ISO 9001 certification, defining requirements for the implementation of a Quality management system.

In 2003 the airport received the official designation of an "airport of national interest" through a government decree. This decision, aligned with the evolution of decentralization laws, granted the Montpellier platform the status of a private company with public capital. In addition, the renewal of the concession allows the Montpellier Chamber of Commerce and Industry to continue to develop the airport until 2008 as manager with the signing of new specifications. The following year, the judicial liquidation of Air Littoral led to the closure of 14 routes.

In 2008 the noise pollution was disputed by the local residents concerned. As a result, from October, airlines, flying clubs, ESMA and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation are committed to a "green trajectory" and to prioritise landings and take-offs by sea. The following year, Montpellier Méditerranée airport, managed by the Montpellier Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was transformed into a public limited company with a management board and supervisory board with a capital of 148,000 euros on 23 June 2009. Montpellier Méditerranée Airport SA was born. The shareholding is distributed as follows: 60% State, 25% Montpellier Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 7% Hérault Department, 6.5% Languedoc-Roussillon Region, 1% Pays de l'Or Community of Municipalities and 0.5% Montpellier Agglomeration.

From the 2010s onwards

In December 2011, a significant change occurred due to magnetic declination in France. As a result, the orientation of the runways war corrected to 12L / 30R (previously 13L / 31R). During the year 2012, the airport witnessed the arrival of three new airlines: Lufthansa, Twinjet and Volotea. Air Arabia also established a new route connecting Montpellier to Marrakech.

In 2014, a pivotal moment arrived as Belgian National Airline, Brussels Airlines inaugurated the Montpellier-Bruxelles route. The airline competed with the low-cost Ryanair flight to Brussels South Charleroi Airport, located one hour from the city of Brussels. In 2016, another milestone occurred when Chalair began operating on the Montpellier-Bordeaux. Additionally, Aer Lingus commenced service between Montpellier-Dublin. The Montpellier link to Paris Orly operated by Air France joins La Navette flights.

In 2018, airport management announces the creation of a terminal building specifically for Low Cost flights. The new facility was scheduled to open in spring 2019. The following year, the airport received the company Ural Airlines on the Montpellier-Moscow route, EasyJet expanded its operations with three new routes from Montpellier (Bristol, Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and Porto). Ryanair is no longer at the airport following the cancellation of the last link to Brussels-Charleroi.

From the 2020s

In 2020, Transavia France established a presence, basing two aircraft to operate 21 new routes.

Facilities

The airport is at an elevation of 17 feet (5 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 12L/30R is 2,600 by 50 metres (8,530 ft × 164 ft) and 12R/30L is 1,100 by 30 metres (3,609 ft × 98 ft).

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Air Algérie Algiers, Oran
Air Arabia Casablanca, Fès, Nador, Oujda, Tangier
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
British Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick
Discover Airlines Seasonal: Frankfurt
easyJet Basel/Mulhouse, London–Gatwick
Seasonal: London–Luton, Palma de Mallorca
KLM Amsterdam
Luxair Luxembourg
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen, Oslo
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal: Copenhagen
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Zurich (begins 27 June 2025)
Transavia Algiers, Brussels (begins 10 April 2025), Lisbon, Marrakesh, Oran, Paris–Orly, Rabat, Seville, Tunis
Seasonal: Athens, Bastia (begins 12 July 2025), Heraklion, Istanbul, Rome–Fiumicino, Rotterdam/The Hague
Volotea Brest, Caen, Lille, Nantes, Strasbourg
Seasonal: Ajaccio, Bastia, Menorca, Rennes

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at MPL airport. See Wikidata query.

Ground transport

  • Bus route 620 (Airport Shuttle Bus or Navette in French) runs between Place de l’Europe tramway station and the Airport along Avenue Pierre Mendès-France.
  • ÉcoPôle and Parc Expo are the closest Montpellier tramway stations, but the stations are not close to the passenger terminal.

Airlife magazine

Montpellier Airport's quarterly magazine, Airlife, began publication in 2016. Published by Lysagora Media, the magazine has articles on travel, design, lifestyle and leisure as well as information about the airport and its flight schedules.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 24 September 2022, West Atlantic flight SWN5745 suffered damages after skidding off the runway 12L while landing during a storm by night. The Boeing 737-400 involved ended up in the Étang de l'Or, a lake situated 180 meters South of the runway. None of the three occupants were injured.

References

  1. ^ LFMT – MONTPELLIER MÉDITERRANÉE. AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 26 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Résultats d'activité des aéroports français 2018" (PDF). aeroport.fr. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Vous êtes perdu ?".
  4. ^ "Il y 80 ans : 1er atterrissage à l'aéroport de Montpellier". France 3 Occitanie (in French). 23 January 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  5. ^ Arrêté du 6 novembre 1995 modifiant l'arrêté du 1er février 1994 fixant la liste des services publics et organismes rattachés au regard de la défense, retrieved 1 April 2024
  6. ^ https://www.ccomptes.fr/sites/default/files/EzPublish/ROD2CCIMONTPELLIER.pdf#page=39
  7. ^ à 00h00, Par Claude MassonnetLe 18 février 2004 (17 February 2004). "Air Littoral disparaît du ciel français". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 1 April 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Liu, Jim (27 April 2022). "Air Arabia Maroc NS22 France Network Changes - 26APR22". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  9. ^ Liu, Jim (14 April 2023). "Air Arabia Maroc 3Q23 A321 Operations – 09APR23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  10. ^ "AIR ARABIA MAROC NS23 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 05FEB23".
  11. ^ Liu, Jim (24 April 2023). "Air Arabia Maroc Expands Tangier Network From mid-September 2023". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  12. ^ "Air France NW22 Paris CDG Europe Frequency Variations – 23OCT22". Aeroroutes.
  13. ^ "British Airways Adds Five New Short-Haul Services to Its London Gatwick Network". 4 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Eurowings Discover adds further two new routes to summer 2023 schedule". 21 December 2022.
  15. ^ "KLM NS24 European Service Changes – 21JAN24". Aeroroutes.
  16. ^ "Norwegian NS24 Network Additions – 14NOV23". AeroRoutes.
  17. ^ "SAS NS23 EUROPEAN NETWORK ADDITIONS". Aeroroutes. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  18. ^ "SWISS NS25 Short-Haul Network Additions – 30OCT24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  19. ^ Liu, Jim. "Transavia France launches Montpellier base in April 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Transavia France NS25 Network Additions – 22OCT24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  21. ^ https://www.transavia.com/en-EU/
  22. ^ "Aéroport de Montpellier : Transavia ouvre une ligne vers Paris-Orly cet hiver".
  23. ^ Liu, Jim. "Transavia France adds Montpellier – Tunisia routes in S20". Routesonline. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  24. ^ Duclos, François (17 March 2021). "Transavia France : plein de nouveautés dont la Suède" [Transavia France: Many New Features Including Sweden]. Air Journal (in French). Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Vous êtes perdu ?".
  26. ^ "Transavia France NS25 Network Additions – 22DEC24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
  27. ^ "Transavia France NS24 Network Additions – 19DEC23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  28. ^ "4 (Bonnes) raisons de découvrir Minorque". 6 December 2023.
  29. ^ "Volotea NW24 Network Additions – 11AUG24".
  30. ^ "Accès en transports publics à l'Aéroport de Montpellier". Aéroport Montpellier Méditerranée (in French). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  31. ^ Montpellier Airport. "Airlife Magazine. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  32. ^ OCLC 971614134
  33. ^ "Accident d'un Boeing 737 à l'aéroport de Montpellier".

Media related to Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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