News

Special 2019 Summer Season

Published on 07-02-19

Nice Côte d’Azur is significantly boosting its international offer and is offering a record number of scheduled destinations.

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport’s summer flight programme demonstrates its ongoing international growth, with a boost for the Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East and North American regions, as well as a densification of its national network. The platform is thus becoming established as an alternative to the major hubs for long-haul connections.

Throughout summer 2019, Nice Côte d’Azur will be offering 120 scheduled destinations (non-chartered), including 96 international destinations.

9 of the 12 new destinations (Newark, Kuwait, Moscow Domodedovo, Chișinău, Kraków, Belgrade, Cork, Rotterdam, Porto, Brest, Agen and La Rochelle) are exclusively international, as are 7 of the 9 strengthened routes.

Three geographic zones symbolise the growing global status of Nice Côte d’Azur Airport:

  • Russia: the growing number of Russian citizens travelling to the Riviera every year for tourism or to visit friends or relatives will benefit from a new Moscow rotation with S7 Airlines (6 flights per week) and another for Saint Petersburg (2 flights per week). Additionally, Air Moldova will be present at the airport, with 3 weekly frequencies connecting Nice to Chișinău, from 26 April to 25 October. Meanwhile, Air Serbia will connect the Riviera to Belgrade and Wizz Air will provide a connection to Kraków, with 2 weekly frequencies;
  • Traffic with the Middle East, a region which provides high-profit tourists, will be supported by the arrival of Kuwait Airways on 3 June (a first in France outside of Paris) and the transition of Qatar Airways to A350-900 aircraft. Nice Côte d’Azur will be the only airport in France outside of Paris to receive this new generation aircraft;
  • North America, with an additional frequency to Montreal operated for the first time using the A321neo LR by Air Transat, and the creation of the route to Newark by 100% business class airline La Compagnie, extending a fast-growing international network.

Overall, this new summer programme strengthens and consolidates the network of destinations offered by Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, which now provides 120 direct, scheduled, non-chartered connections. Focusing on the cities that are most attractive or generate the most high-potential tourists, these connect the Territory to 43 countries: three more than last year (Moldova, Kuwait and Serbia). They also offer a second scheduled flight to New York. The frequencies will be provided by 58 scheduled airlines: four more than in summer 2018.

“This new programme is representative of our whole policy, which seeks to make our Territory more attractive, with an improved international reputation, and to support its economic dynamism. Moreover, our summer 2019 programme strengthens our position as France’s second hub for connections to the rest of the world. By connecting 24 French airports to 96 international destinations (including 5 long-haul destinations), we offer tourists and business travellers a high quality alternative to the hubs, and bring some relief to the saturated skies of Northern Europe. We will soon be announcing innovative initiatives to facilitate connections via Nice-Côte d’Azur,” states Dominique Thillaud, Chairman of the Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur.

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