St. Denis, Reunion Island, remains one of the busiest airports in the Indian Ocean. In 2014, the airport managed to increase its total passengers output by 0.6% to 2.014 million. Over 80% of all passengers fly to and from France as well as Mauritius. La Réunion Roland Garros is the second busiest airport in the region of the Vanilla Islands just after Mauritius Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. The latter is now approaching three million passengers a year.
While Mauritius clearly positions itself as a regional hub for the entire region, the management of La Réunion Roland Garros International Airport has the ambition also to turn the air gateway into an active hub. “We have many assets such as being part of the European Union with the status of an ‘Outer Most Regions’ – OMR – which gives us not only financial incentives but also guarantees a quality of service and safety,” highlighted Jean-Paul Noël, Chairman of the Management Board of Aéroport de la Réunion Roland Garros.
Reunion Island is today linked to 14 destinations, including Marseille and Paris in France and also Chennai and Bangkok in Asia or Johannesburg in South Africa thanks to Air Austral, the island’s home carrier. However, the airport hopes to continue to expand its network and looks particularly at Asian markets. “We depend, of course, on our home carrier, Air Austral, especially as they are due to renew their fleet by acquiring more fuel-efficient aircraft,” added Mr. Noël.
The airport’s authority hopes very much to be able to get direct flights to China as well as more frequencies to China. The need to have direct flights to both countries could be filled with a more efficient stop-over. Although Reunion Island is linked already by two weekly frequencies to Chennai and Bangkok with the possibility for further connections, the flight is not that practical for passengers. “We have many Reunion people from Chinese origin, and they need with Air Austral to make a stopover in Chennai and then change in Bangkok to go to China or Hong Kong. This makes the trip very long between – 9 and 11 hours,” analyzed the airport’s authority.
The airport’s management is pushing to see another gateway to be added to Reunion Island’s airports network – such as Colombo in Sri Lanka – or for the reestablishment of nonstop flights to Bangkok. “We are sure that we will get in the medium term, direct flights to China, especially as conditions of entrance into La Réunion are now easier for Chinese travelers,” said the Chairman of the Board. Air Austral CEO Marie-Joseph Male already confirmed to look at the possibility to serve the Chinese market with its own aircraft or through a codeshare agreement. “We still need to further consolidate our financial position as we continue to rebuild our financing capacities. We now look to expand our fleet by 2022 and still study which aircraft should be the most appropriate. But it is true that we face saturation on our flights to South Africa and Asia with our Boeing 737-800,” he admitted.
The airport’s company is heavily investing with the support of the Reunion Island region and the EU some 260 million euro into the airport’s expansion as the management forecasts an additional million passengers until 2025. “We already face saturation at peak hours, when all flights arrive from Paris. This is why we are completing the expansion of our terminal by another 500 square meters. It will help adding 7 new check-in counters and put into service a fourth passengers bridge able to accommodate large aircraft such as the Airbus A380,” added Jean-Paul Noël. The expanded terminal will be put into service by the second half of 2015.
Before 2020, the second phase of the airport terminal will be completed as well as the expansion of the apron and a new maintenance center. Urgent work is due to start soon on new safety rules in conformity with EU directives, which means that some other expansion works are likely to be slightly delayed. They are also thoughts with regional authorities about the reorganization of the area around the airport. “We want to create a new commercial and industrial zone, and a hotel would be a welcomed addition. It is indeed a priority,” said Jean-Paul Noël.
