Marseille Provence Airport

Marseille Provence Airport (French: Aéroport Marseille-Provence) (IATA: MRS, ICAO: LFML) is an international airport located 27 km (17 miles) northwest of Marseille,^[2] on the territory of Marignane, both communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. The airport's hinterland goes from Gap to Arles and from Toulon to Avignon.

Marseille Provence Airport Aéroport Marseille-Provence Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-14
IATA: MRS ICAO: LFML
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Marseille Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Serves	Marseille
Location	Marignane, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
Opened	22 October 1922; 102 years ago (1922-10-22)
Focus city for	Air France
Operating base for	Ryanair
Elevation AMSL	70 ft / 21 m
Coordinates	43°26′12″N 05°12′54″E
Website	marseille-airport.com
Map
LFML Airport in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region Show map of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur LFML LFML (France) Show map of France
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 13L/31R 3,500 11,483 Asphalt 13R/31L 2,370 7,776 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers 10,800,254 Passenger change 22-23 18.1% Freight (tons) 56,132
Sources: French [1]

History

Aerial view

Check-in hall

Apron view

Formerly known as Marseille–Marignane Airport, it has been managed since 1934 by the Marseille-Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).^[3]

In the 1920s and 1930s, Marignane was one of France's main points of operation for flying boats. It even briefly served as a terminal for Pan American World Airways Clipper flying boats.^[4] Other flying boat operators were Aéropostale and Air Union, the latter moving over from Antibes in 1931. Marignane was also a production site for hydroplanes by Lioré et Olivier.^{[citation needed]}

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry describes turning back to Marignane airport with a fuel leak in chapter 8 of Wind, Sand and Stars, before setting out again for Tunis, and the fateful event that informed his later description of the crash-landing in his best-known book, The Little Prince.

In September 2006, the airport opened its new terminal MP2 for budget airlines. In 2013, the airport expanded its shopping and dining options, with 30 new shops and restaurants, among which is the first Burger King restaurant in France since 1997.^[5][6]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Marseille Provence Airport:

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Seasonal: Athens,[7] Heraklion[citation needed]
Aer Lingus	Seasonal: Dublin[citation needed]
Air Algérie	Algiers, Annaba, Batna, Béjaïa, Chlef, Constantine, Jijel, Oran Seasonal: Setif,[citation needed] Tlemcen[8]
Air Arabia	Fes[9]
Air Corsica	Ajaccio,[10] Bastia,[10] Calvi,[10] Figari[10]
Air France	Lyon,[11] Paris–Charles de Gaulle,[12] Paris–Orly[13]
Air Transat	Montréal–Trudeau[14]
Austrian Airlines	Vienna[15][16]
British Airways	London–Heathrow[17]
Brussels Airlines	Brussels[18]
Corsair International	Dzaoudzi, Mauritius, Saint-Denis de la Réunion
EasyJet	Bordeaux,[19] London–Gatwick[20] Seasonal: Bristol[21]
El Al	Tel Aviv
Ethiopian Airlines	Addis Ababa[22]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Düsseldorf[23]
Flynas	Jeddah[24]
Iberia	Madrid[25]
KLM	Amsterdam[26]
Korean Air	Seasonal charter: Seoul–Incheon[27]
Lufthansa	Frankfurt,[28] Munich[28]
Nouvelair	Djerba, Monastir, Tunis[29]
Pegasus Airlines	Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[30]
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca,[31] Marrakesh,[32] Rabat[33][34]
Ryanair[35]	Agadir,[19] Alicante,[19] Bergamo,[19] Berlin,[citation needed] Bologna,[19] Bucharest–Otopeni,[19] Budapest,[19] Catania,[19] Charleroi,[19] Dublin,[19] Eindhoven,[19] Essaouira,[19] Fès,[19] Kraków,[19] La Rochelle,[36] Lille,[19] Limoges,[37][38] Lisbon,[19] London–Stansted,[39] Luxembourg,[citation needed] Madrid,[19] Málaga,[19] Malta,[19] Marrakesh,[19] Nador,[19] Nantes,[19] Ouarzazate,[19] Oujda,[19] Palermo,[19] Paphos,[19] Porto,[40] Prague,[19] Rabat,[19] Reggio Calabria,[41] Rome–Fiumicino,[19] Seville,[19] Stockholm–Arlanda (begins 4 July 2025),[42] Tangier,[19] Tétouan,[19] Valencia,[19] Vienna,[19] Wrocław[43] Seasonal: Amman–Queen Alia,[44] Bari,[19] Bristol,[45] Chania,[19] Corfu,[19] Dubrovnik (begins 31 March 2025),[46] Edinburgh,[19] Faro,[47] Ibiza,[19] Lanzarote,[citation needed] Manchester,[19] Menorca,[19] Naples,[47] Palma de Mallorca,[19] Rhodes,[48][49] Shannon,[36][47] Tenerife–South,[citation needed] Tirana,[50] Tours,[47] Treviso,[51][49] Venice,[19] Zadar,[19] Zagreb[52]
Shanghai Airlines	Casablanca,[53] Shanghai–Pudong[54]
Sky Express	Seasonal: Heraklion[55][56]
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich[57][58]
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon[59]
Transavia	Athens[60] Beirut, Brest,[61] Cairo,[62] Dakar–Diass,[63] Djerba (resumes 2 April 2025),[64] Dubai–Al Maktoum,[65] Hurghada,[66] Jeddah (begins 30 October 2025),[67] Medina (begins 30 October 2025),[67] Nantes,[68] Tel Aviv (begins 26 October 2025)[69] Seasonal: Annaba (begins 8 July 2025),[70] Antalya,[71] Biarritz,[71][72] Funchal (begins 13 July 2025),[64] Heraklion,[71] Larnaca (begins 13 July 2025),[73] Marrakesh,[72] Monastir,[citation needed] Praia (begins 1 November 2025),[74] Sal,[75] Tunis,[citation needed] Yerevan[76]
Tunisair	Djerba, Monastir, Tunis
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul[77]
Twin Jet	Milan–Malpensa, Pau,[citation needed] Strasbourg[78][better source needed]
Volotea	Athens, Caen, Constantine, Fuerteventura, Oran, Rennes, Setif, Strasbourg, Tlemcen, Venice Seasonal: Annaba,[citation needed] Barcelona,[79] Béjaïa,[citation needed] Bordeaux (begins 30 May 2025),[80] Brest,[81] Cagliari,[citation needed] Copenhagen,[82] Dubrovnik,[citation needed] Florence,[citation needed] Gran Canaria,[83] Heraklion,[citation needed] Lanzarote,[84] Menorca,[citation needed] Mykonos,[citation needed] Olbia,[85] Palma de Mallorca, Rijeka, Salerno (begins 6 July 2025),[86] Santorini,[citation needed] Split,[87] Tenerife–South[88]
Vueling	Algiers, Barcelona[89]

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
ASL Airlines France[90]	Ajaccio, Bastia, Nice, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Rennes
UPS Airlines[91]	Cologne/Bonn

Statistics

It is the fifth busiest French airport by passenger traffic and third largest for cargo traffic.^[92] In 2012, the airport achieved the fourth highest European passenger traffic growth, at 12.7% with 8,295,479 passengers.^[93] Marseille Provence Airport serves as a focus city for Air France. In summer 2013, the airport served 132 regular destinations, the largest offer in France after the Parisian airports.^[94]

Annual passenger traffic at MRS airport. See Wikidata query.

Ground transportation

The airport is served by the Vitrolles Marseille Provence Airport rail station on the TER network. A public bus runs between the airport and the station.

Other facilities

• The airport was the main fixed wing base of Sécurité Civile, the aerial firefighting division of the French Ministry of the Interior.^[95]** This Sécurité Civile base has now moved to nearby Nîmes-Garons.
• The head office of Airbus Helicopters is located on the airport property.^[96]

Accidents and incidents

• On 4 February 1948, SNCASE Languedoc P/7 F-BATK of Air France was damaged beyond economical repair.^[97]
• On 30 July 1950, SNCASE Languedoc P/7 F-BCUI of Air France was damaged beyond economic repair when its undercarriage collapsed on landing.^[98]
• On 6 February 1989, Inter Cargo Service Flight 3132, operated by Vickers Vanguard F-GEJE, crashed on takeoff. Three crew died; no passengers were on board.^[99]
• On 26 December 1994, Air France Flight 8969, with 236 people aboard, arrived in Marseille after being hijacked by four young men of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers, Algeria, two days prior. After 15 hours on the ground and a breakdown in negotiations, the French special forces GIGN stormed the aircraft. In the ensuing firefight, all four hijackers were killed while three crew, 13 passengers, and 9 GIGN operatives were injured. The Airbus A300B2-1C F-GBEC was written off.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of the busiest airports in France