1985 to 1992: The new terminal buildings - more room for more passengers :

-1985 to 1987: construction of the new terminal, T2
-1988: 5 million passengers
-1989 to 1992: commencement of alterations to the existing terminal, T1


Despite successive extensions to the existing terminal building, it could not cope with the constantly increasing numbers of passengers at Nice Côte d'Azur Airport.

-Although the growth rate had become less spectacular, at around 10% it still represented a more than worthy score compared to the general trend of 3 to 4%. In 1981, the decision was taken to construct a second terminal.

The idea was to group together all AIR FRANCE and AIR INTER flights as the national network generated 66% of the airport's traffic. Aéroports de Paris (ADP) was entrusted with the project and work commenced in 1985.

The new terminal was inaugurated on 22 May 1987, one year after Nice Côte d'Azur had become France's second airport after Paris. The new terminal cost 320 million francs, 80% of which was financed by the CCI.

The new facility was intended to be extremely functional and light:

- separate arrivals and departures channels, simplified path for passengers, exposure to natural daylight and the outside world thanks to bay windows and a glass roof…

Passengers can sometimes be a little anxious before a flight - this environment was intended to dispel all such apprehensions. The architectural stance of the building resulted in a departures hall measuring 4,500 m², unobstructed by supporting pillars. In the same vein, the three glass footbridges connected to the terminal building gave arriving passengers an instant taste of the pleasures of the Côte d'Azur.

Future extensions were already on the drawing board. The new terminal building had been designed to receive two further extensions, with one of these modules scheduled for delivery in June 2002.

- As a point of interest, if you happen to visit the Chinese island of HAINAN, you will see an identical replica of Nice Côte d'Azur Airport's Terminal 2!

Terminal 2 in 1987

By 1990, alterations to Terminal 1 had become a priority as the building no longer corresponded to the traffic it catered for - either in terms of its size or in terms of quality.

- The first modification concerned roof. The company "EIFFEL" worked on new roofing without disrupting the terminal's everyday operations.

Terminal 1 in 1992 (north facade)

- The next phase consisted in completely redefining the interior facilities. 6 footbridges were added, as were club lounges for passengers, and the check-in and boarding zones were enlarged. All in all, theoretical capacity increased from 3.5 million passengers to 5 million. Building work continued until 1999.

Finally, in November 1991, professionals were treated to a state of the art cargo station, capable of handling 30,000 tonnes of goods.

As for the airlines, in 1991 the Nice-Paris route was the first domestic French route to be opened up to competition. AIR FRANCE and AIR INTER had to come to terms with AIR LIBERTE- MINERVE. The latter airline started off with 3 daily flights compared to the national carriers' 20.