If France has been seeking a political direction for several months, the people of Palois know they can count on their mayor to serve their interests. While since October 26, the airline linking Paris Orly to Pau daily has been suspended, leaving only that from Roissy airport in operation, the Palois welcome the arrival of their councilor in Matignon . The latter, a few days before the effective suspension of the line, had already taken a position by urging Air France KLM to maintain this connection operated by Transavia, the group’s low-cost subsidiary. During a press conference on October 18, François Bayrou even congratulated himself on having obtained from Michel Barnier the commitment of the State to intervene with the French company of which he is a shareholder to relaunch this rotation, although it was seriously in deficit. .
A political pressure not really to the taste of the French group, whose Barnier government, before being censored, intended to reduce the financial results, by imposing a new taxation within the 2025 draft budget. For Air France KLM, the painfulness of this “Chirac surcharge” of solidarity would have represented at least 140 million euros in additional levies. From then on, we understand better why the management of Transavia thought twice before continuing certain lines in difficulty, like this famous Pau – Orly.
Less than 65 passengers per flight to and from Pau airport
Until its last rotation on October 26, its attendance was in free fall to 52,723 passengers recorded for the year 2024, compared to 116,002 travelers on the same date a year earlier. Traffic there therefore collapsed by more than 54% in twelve months ! At the same time, the number of passengers flying on Air France (HOP service) via Roissy increased by 12.6%, or 177,317 passengers cumulatively over the first 11 months of 2024. A sign that the Palois had visibly changed their habits, and did not hesitate to join Roissy rather than Orly. “ We operate up to 4 flights per day from/to CDG », Confirms an Air France spokesperson. Still, with 3,825 aircraft movements since the start of the year (figure including rare rotations between Pau and Lyon), the average number of passengers per aircraft landing at the foot of the Pyrenees does not exceed, according to our calculations, 65 travelers. All on planes with between 100 and nearly 190 seats (as, in the latter case, on the Boeing 737-800 operated by Transavia).
Air transport: is this the beginning of the end of low-cost airlines in the region?
If Pau sees its wings being reduced, it is because less than 30 kilometers away, the Tarbes airport (Hautes-Pyrénées) is cannibalizing it. With 589,000 travelers in 2023, Tarbes Lourdes Pyrénées has in fact got the best of Pau (345,603 passengers in 2023). It must be said that in Tarbes, flights to Orly are partly subsidized by the State because the capital of Bigorre benefits from a public service obligation, which runs until June 2026. This is why François Bayrou was thinking before his appointment to set up a triangular plan between Pau, Tarbes and Orly.
In the mind of the mayor of Pau, it would be enough to merge the two regional airports, to then distribute flights between the two terminals. Enough to relieve the finances of the Pau structure? In 2021, local authorities had to put their hands into their wallets to save their platform, by reinjecting 10 million euros over 7 years into the accounts of the airport’s joint union. They had also signed an amendment to the operating agreement which links this mixed union to the manager of the structure, the company Air’Py (51% owned by the Pau Béarn Chamber of Commerce and Industry and 49% by the Egis Airport Operation company).
This document already predicted that local authorities would close an operating deficit estimated at 5 million euros between 2020 and 2024. If the new Prime Minister achieves his goals and ends up obtaining from Air France KLM the resumption of flights between Pau and Orly, who will compensate for the chronic operating deficit?
