Terminal 3 at Lyon airport is being renovated and expanded. When the work at the terminal ends, the capacity of the airport will increase to approximately 12 million passengers a year and the low cost airlines will cover 30% of total traffic.
Currently, terminal 3 at Lyon’s Saint-Exupery airport is reserved mainly for low cost airlines such as EasyJet, Air Arabia and Transavia. However, the situation should change at the end of 2011. The renovation and expansion of terminal 3 has begun. While maintaining the low cost transport, the capacity of the terminal will be doubled to 3 million passengers.
Opened in April 2008, the traffic at terminal 3 grew by 10% in 2010 compared to 2009. The expansion of terminal 3 will enable the airport to increase total traffic from 9.5 to 11.5 million passengers per year. Low cost transport is also expected to rise significantly from 19 to 30%.
The new boarding space will be over 5000 m2 large. There will be between two to ten lounges and 500 m2 will be used for retail. The renovated terminal should be opened for passengers at the end of 2011.
The work on terminal 3 is the first part of a more ambitious project. By 2016, terminal 3 will be connected to terminal 1 by a new common area of 15,000 m2. All the renovation and expansion work will enable Lyon airport to reach 12.5 million passengers per year. With such figures, the airport should be able to compete with its Swiss rival and secure the second position among the French airports, after ADP.