1/2 Entretien avec Nicolas Notebaert, DG de VINCI Concessions et Président de VINCI Airports

So, Vinci is the world's largest private airport operator. We have about fifty airports today. By the end of the year, I'll come back to it, we'll go to 70 because we have some acquisitions underway. It's a great pride because it means that each time we started about fifteen years ago, it's countries, regions, territories that trust us to take charge of their air connectivity, relations with the rest of the world, their tourism, and little by little we develop this French skill of welcoming, economic development, tourism development in this sector. In France, a dozen airports, the largest being Lyon Saint-Exupéry, but also Nantes, Rennes, Clermont, Toulon, Chambéry, Grenoble, etc. A number of important airports for the regions concerned, about 10% of our activity. So we are very proud of this French base, but we are above all a global player present at London Gatwick, the largest airport; Portugal, the largest country, all airports in Portugal at Vinci; and also a great pride, the only international that was welcomed in Japan since we manage the three Kansai airports: Itami, Osaka, and Kobe. And it's the second economic region of Japan, the first tourist region. So a model that exports, a French know-how that exports.

So the years 2020 and 2021 were particularly difficult for the sector with COVID, and 2022 is a very strong restart year. First, why? Because air mobility is vital. It's vital first to go see families and friends. There were people for 2-3 years who hadn't seen their family on the other side of the world. Then tourism, this need for escape. And then perhaps a little slower, the restart of business. Geographically, the American continent, especially North America, Central America, in some airports in the United States, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, started very strong and today these airports are above 2019 traffic. The big news of the summer was the restart of Europe. Our airports in Portugal had traffic very close to summer 2019, and now in October we are even above. So this return, essentially tourist, of French, British, German, Scandinavian to Portugal, but also very good recovery at the departure airports of tourism, I mentioned London Gatwick, Lyon, Nantes, Europeans traveling for tourism. What is a little slower is Asia for two or three reasons. First, China, which is the first international market in Asia, is still closed. Currently, the party congress will decide if there are modes of opening a little of the country in this zero-COVID policy that does not allow travel. There is good news: Japan since October 11 exactly has finally lifted restrictions on tourism, so we can go to Japan. And for us, the country of Cambodia, which is the most affected country outside of Chinese tourists, receives tourists. So it has resumed everywhere. So it's a vital need: first the American continent, then Europe, and Asia which is now restarting. So all this means we have found about 80% of our 2019 traffic, rather above 90% in Europe. So we are not very far. This reflects the need for air mobility that was very important and not very satisfied during COVID.

This is exactly the model of airport development. It's a very international model for many reasons. First, because international civil aviation is something that works very well. We are in a troubled time globally, but there is always this area of cooperation between countries to have common rules. We see it in airports: security, baggage control, standardization of aircraft, certification of airports and airlines. It's frankly a globalized industry for reasons of safety and good relations between countries. So it's our job to be able to arrive and apply these best practices in different parts of the world. And indeed, very recently, our latest acquisitions: we signed our first contract on the African continent, the airports of Cape Verde, islands off the coast of Africa, very touristy. For them, it's this opening. The first tourists are British and French in Cape Verde. So they are expanding their model. We signed in July, we have one year to do what is called financial closing, but we have 6 airports on the islands of Cape Verde. Then effectively, we had the honor of being selected by the French government to manage the airports of Papeete in Polynesia. We immediately see this need for air connection. You can go either via California, Los Angeles, or via Japan, Tokyo. There is also intra-island traffic, essentially American tourism, but also Polynesians coming to mainland France and vice versa. So a very ambitious project, notably with cooling by water pumped from very deep to avoid electric air conditioning, so a very ambitious ecological project. And finally, a network of airports in Mexico: Monterrey, Acapulco, which are part of these 13 airports. A market that reflects the evolution of the world because Mexico is a very large country where the population and standard of living are growing, and it has some needs for air travel already within the country, but also many relations with the United States since geopolitically, the US is recentering part of their production from Asia and China to Mexico, so strong needs for relations. So these are three examples that reflect the evolution of the world with countries where long-distance connectivity requires this type of... I insist on one point, and we will come back to it, always with a very strong environmental and societal commitment on our part because we do not negotiate with these countries the fact of applying the best practices that are ours in environmental matters.

So first, it's a great honor for us to work in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It's a dynamic region in terms of economy and tourism, especially skiing. Annecy, Chambéry, Grenoble, and even Lyon airports serve ski resorts that partly host tourists coming from far away, many British who come by plane. So that's a direct utility for the region's economy. But also various stakeholders, all interesting and fascinating. If we look at three departments: Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Isère, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, which is the leader with the Clermont-Ferrand metropolis and Puy-de-Dôme of the joint syndicate of Clermont and other shareholders, the Lyon metropolis, the department, the region. Annecy in this, each territory has a specificity. It's rather light aviation, between Geneva and Chambéry to serve this specific territory of Haute-Savoie. But there are also a number of companies, a number of tourists who, in the middle of these different airports, have a complementary offer that we provide at Annecy. So we have our lightness with a local team working on site, but at the same time we have support services that are not operational, that work for these airports. So that gives an economy of scale for financial and accounting follow-up, but dedicated teams for service to our passengers and customers, rather light aviation, complementary to Lyon Saint-Exupéry, the large regional airport connected with a competitor that is not easy, Geneva, since Geneva is a large international city with many long-haul flights and many global political bodies. So for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, it's important to have this diversity to welcome tourists and companies that need to be connected to the world.

This is a subject that has been going on for a few years, reflecting one of the challenges of development and airports. Today, tourist countries like Portugal have developed a lot. Over the past 10 years, traffic has doubled in Portugal, and it's a traffic that does not let up because it's an extremity of Europe, you can only easily go there by plane. At the same time, there is an art of living, welcoming retirees, tourism for a week sometimes a bit more, which allows hosting many people. And Lisbon airport is not sufficient in the long term to handle this traffic. In all these countries, this debate is difficult, it's difficult to find locations and to dialogue on all the effects of these new sites. This debate is not only technical for people like us, it's a political debate. So the Portuguese government chose to fight, it recently found a solution to say that it must be something that creates a large political consensus. So they agreed, I would say between the major political parties that usually alternate at the head of the country, to say that it should not be a political subject, re-examining one last time all possible solutions. By the end of 2023, we will have carried out what is called in European jargon a strategic environmental study to determine together our political choice. We are at their disposal. It will probably be a solution with first the current airport and then using other sites. We have our opinion, but our contract means that we will be led to expand our perimeter to a new airport site that will be chosen by the Portuguese government. So yes, I think today there has been a clear framework from the Portuguese government that allows this study, which is very interesting, and will bring a solution by the end of 2023.