Airport hosts seasonal workshop

A crowd gathered at the Sainte-Victoire Gardens restaurant in Terminal 1 of the Marseille-Provence airport on October 8 for a traditional workshop organized twice a year before the summer and winter seasons. Julien Boullay, director of commercial, marketing, and services at the airport, noted that more than 200 participants, including airlines, travel agents, and tour operators, attend each edition. The airport, which welcomed 11.3 million passengers in 2025, aims to continue developing "long-haul direct flights from Marseille-Provence," with Corsair and United Airlines strengthening the network.

New flight routes announced

The event highlighted several new developments, including the opening of a direct link between Marseille and Pointe-à-Pitre by Corsair starting December 15, 2026, with flights scheduled until the end of April 2027. Mouloud Hammar, regional commercial manager for Corsair, explained that this opening is part of a strategy to develop the network in the region, alongside links to La Réunion. Corsair has also launched a link between Toulouse and Pointe-à-Pitre.

Additional routes and challenges

The airport also highlighted the opening of the Marseille-Strasbourg line by Twin Jet starting November 3, as well as new destinations by Transavia to Bari and Tirana for the summer of 2027, with two flights per week. United Airlines will launch a daily direct link between Marseille and New York-Newark starting June 5, 2027. Tickets are already being sold, and the route will be operated by Airbus A321XLR with a flight time of 9h15. However, among the travel advisors present at the workshop, this future connection has not yet generated any reservations.

Changing travel preferences

Géraldine Guillot, manager of the Au Temps du Voyage agency in Aix-en-Provence, noted a decline in interest for the United States, linked to the political context and the cost of living there, which also affects tourism activities. New York remains in demand, but travel plans are more often considered at the last minute.

Promoting Guadeloupe

Patrick Gaulin, in charge of destination promotion within the Guadeloupe Islands Tourism Committee, summarized the objective of the event as promoting the archipelago among tourism professionals from Provence, emphasizing the six islands. The workshop also addressed challenges such as reductions in Volotea's flight schedule. According to OAG data, the company has reduced its planned flight program in France for October 2026 by 27.8% compared to the initially published schedule.

Flight schedule reductions

Amandine Pesce from the Eurafrique agency (Aix-en-Provence) noted "a limited but real impact on its clients," while Sylvie Basso from the Ailleurs Voyage agency in Trets explained "avoid booking with the company when another option is available." Géraldine Guillot adopted a similar approach while highlighting the limitations of this strategy, noting that on certain destinations, such as Venice and its Marco Polo airport, other carriers do not necessarily offer equivalent service.

Aligning airline and distributor goals

Between new routes and adaptation to the challenges of air transport, this autumn workshop allowed the perspectives of airlines to be brought closer to the concrete concerns of distributors.