On 9 December 2016, Aéroports de Lyon surpassed the nine million passenger mark for the first time in its history. This increase in traffic amounts to 9.8% compared to 2015, with 9,553,250 passengers welcomed throughout the year. This strong increase in traffic represents the largest of its kind of all major French airports.
A main driver for the increase was the 12.5% increase in international traffic compared to 2015. In total, international traffic accounted for 6 351 780 passengers passing through the airport, 66.5% of the total amount of traffic. Every served continent experienced a strong increase, benefitting directly from the increased capabilities of existing lines and 20 new destinations such as Moscow, operated by Aeroflot, and Montreal, operated by Air Canada, both launched in June 2016. After 4 years of sustained growth, the United Arab Emirates again showed its potential as a destination by obtaining a 5.2% increase in traffic for Dubai.
Domestic traffic increased by +5.2 % representing a total of 3,146,938 passengers in 2016, driven by the popularity of destinations such as Bordeaux, Nantes, Nice and Toulouse which between them registered a 6.6% increase.
Low cost traffic accounted for 34.4% of Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport, a 25.4% increase compared to 2015. Low cost airlines serve 40 destinations from Lyon-Saint Exupéry, of which 16 were added in 2016 (please see list attached).
Air freight experienced double digit growth for a 5th consecutive year; an increase of 11.8% compared to 2015 with over 59,407 tonnes transported. One main reason for this growth was the installation of a weekly cargo flight operated by Air Algerie in November, further complementing the cargo flights operated by Emirates.
Express freight increased by 12%, energised by: the strong results of major operators, the new route operated by TNT and the additional flights, put in place at the end of the year by DHL and UPS.
Long-haul flights (Montréal, Moscow, Dubai), allowed for an increase in cargo freight capacity. These new long-haul destinations and the filling Turkish Airlines and Air Algerie flights allowed it to register a 28% increase compared to 2015.
These increases in both passenger traffic and freight, the most important to major French airports, remain controlled regarding their environmental impact. While passenger traffic increased by 9.8% and freight increased by 11.8%, the number of airplane movements remained stable, registering a small 1.8% increase.