National airline Air Algérie recently celebrated its 20th anniversary at Montpellier Airport in southern France. This year, the air carrier expects to carry a record number of passengers on this route.
Air Algérie currently offers 6 weekly flights to Algiers and Oran, with seasonal variations to meet peak demand during holiday periods. Passengers have the choice between economy and business class, with services adapted according to flight times. Air Algérie stands out from low-cost airlines by including a 10 kg cabin bag, while holding baggage varies depending on the chosen fare.
In 2024, Air Algérie plans to transport a record number of 50,000 passengers at Montpellier-Méditerranée airport. The future of the company in Montpellier therefore looks promising. Air Algérie’s promotion manager for the South of France, Fatiha Gaouaou, spoke on Actu France. “Montpellier is a human-sized, practical airport with modern and efficient infrastructure, which allows us to offer excellent service to passengers. With the airport teams, Air Algérie has gradually developed its offer. At the start, we only flew from June to September. Today, we offer three flights per week to Algiers and three to Oran, all year round,” she explains.
Air Algérie recognizes the potential of the connection to Montpellier
Air Algérie recognizes the potential of a direct connection between Montpellier and Algeria, due to the presence of a large Algerian community in the region. Cities in the south of France, such as Montpellier, Perpignan, Narbonne, Béziers, Nîmes, and Arles, have many Algerians and dual nationals, not to mention Algerian students pursuing their studies in Montpellier.
With an annual load factor of around 80%, Air Algérie demonstrates a strong demand for its services, particularly during the summer when flights are often full. While the company does not plan to increase the number of flights for the moment, it remains open to this possibility depending on the evolution of demand. “There are no plans in the short term to increase this offer, but we could think about it in the future depending on demand, especially since transit traffic is growing,” explains the Air Algérie manager.
Thus, Algiers airport could play a central role in Air Algérie’s prospects, by offering connections to many African and European destinations. Travelers can thus easily travel from Montpellier to Algiers and then to southern Algeria with connections to cities such as Tamanrasset and Djanet. Similarly, connections to African destinations such as Dakar, Abidjan, Bamako, Ouagadougou, Cairo, and Niamey facilitate travel without going through Paris.
