According to the most recent Snav/Atout France poll, January reservations dropped 14% in terms of passengers and volume of business compared to January 2014. This reduction is attributable in part to the events that took place in France early this year – the attack on Charlie Hebdo weekly.
January departures were up 5%, but the volume of business was down 1% compared to January 2014. This trend is caused by the departures to destinations within France.
Trip distribution activity towards French destinations strongly increased in terms of passengers. However, departures towards medium and long-haul destinations decreased by 6% and 5% respectively.
More specifically, reservations in metropolitan France were down 6% in terms of passengers and 11% in terms of volume of business. As for overseas destinations, trip distribution activity towards the French West Indies trended downwards in terms of passengers, while remaining stable for Réunion. Meanwhile, French Polynesia saw a significant drop in reservations.
Departures towards metropolitan France increased 23% in terms of passengers and 4% in terms of volume of business. As for other French destinations, departures towards French Polynesia are trending significantly upwards, whereas those towards the French West Indies and Réunion are trending downwards.
Portugal, the only upward-trending medium-haul destination, saw reservations strongly on the rise with a 47% increase in terms of passengers and 39% in terms of volume of business. Meanwhile, Morocco saw a strong decrease of 60% in terms of passengers and 63% in volume of business. Reservations towards Spain, Italy, and Greece also trended downwards, but to a far lesser degree. Departures towards Portugal were strongly on the rise. Spain, Italy, and Great Britain also saw an increase in departures. This trend is especially reversed for Morocco, however.
Reservations towards Thailand trended strongly upwards. Mauritius and the Dominican Republic showed nearly stable activity in terms of passengers, but volume of business decreased. Conversely, the United States and China showed a marked drop in reservations. Among the principal long-haul destinations, the Dominican Republic, first in terms of passengers in January, saw a small reduction in trip distribution activity in terms of passengers, but a 4% increase in volume of business. Thailand and Mauritius saw increases in departures, especially so for the former.
Meanwhile, departures towards Mexico and the United States trended downwards. The departure outlook for February 2015 is positive for metropolitan France. In fact, as of the end of January, February departures were up 24% in terms of passengers year-over-year, and 28% in terms of volume of business. The February 2015 outlook is equally favourable for medium-haul destinations.