The giant woke up this morning at 4 o’clock. Closed since March 17, 2020, Terminal 1 has been returned to service. The employees, some of whom have since been on short-time work, have returned to work with relief. An event for Nice Côte d’Azur airport. A challenge too. You don’t restart a 52,000 m2 behemoth by pressing a switch.
The teams have been preparing for it for almost a year. For three months, every fortnight, on Thursday evening, at 4 p.m., a ritual had been set up: the setting meeting with the airlines, the assistants, the entire security part of the platform, the shops.
Why reopen today? To coincide with the switch from the winter aeronautical season to the summer one. And optimism is in order, as airlines anticipate a strong recovery.
As proof of this, the more than 107 destinations, including 89 internationally, offered this summer (read the following pages). We are close to the absolute record of 2019. That year, the platform had reached 121 destinations served and 14.5 million passengers.
How many will there be this year? “We hope to be at 9 million, and gradually increase to reach 2019 traffic by 2024”comments Isabelle Baumelle, director of operations and airline development at Nice Côte d’Azur airport.
The pandemic, still active, and obviously the war in Ukraine, raise doubts. But the signs of recovery are there. The airport has never recorded so many long-haul lines. They will be nine for this reopening, i.e. a capacity of 380,000 seats. The first platform in France after Paris. “New companies are joining us, United Airlines, Gulf Air, Condor, Icelandair, Widerøe, among others. The dynamism is certain.”
A titanic project
To make these goals and today’s reopening possible, it took hard work. T1 had reopened sporadically, especially last summer to relieve T2, but all equipment had been shut down since. Everything has been reviewed from top to bottom. “A new Terminal 1 is opening today.”
Part of the marble floor and the plants have been changed, the gas heating has been removed for a completely green version, the sound system is new. Shops, such as Pipo Socca, have enlarged their establishments or renovated them. A grand piano, table football, electronic games have been added. The access walkways to the aircraft are brand new, high-tech guide sights have been installed to guarantee the safety of the reception desks. A titanic project.