Marseille Airport (MRS)

Marseille Provence Airport is located 27km to the northwest of Marseille’s city center. Marseille is the second largest city, as well as the oldest city in France. Marseille airport lies within the Bouches-du-Rhône region and is situated nearby Les Pennes Mirabeau, Marignane, St.Victoret and Zi des Estroublans. The airport is also known as Marseille-Marignane Airport and has the official code of MRS.

Marseille Airport has become a major regional hub for the Provence-Alps Côte d’Azur area, and handles both domestic and international traffic. Passenger traffic at the airport has grown steadily over the years. For the year 2007, the passenger traffic rose to almost 7 million. The previous year had just over 6 million passengers pass through the airport. Marseille Airport ranks approximately as the third busiest French airport in terms of passenger traffic.

The transportation of cargo is also a highly important feature of Marseille Airport. It is the gateway for perishable goods from Africa, such as fish, flowers, fruits and vegetables. The airport has a huge refrigerated building of 1200 square meters. In 2007, cargo traffic was reported as 51 420 tons. In terms of cargo traffic, Marseille Airport is rated as the second largest in France.

The airport consists of three terminals. One area is for domestic flights and another for international traffic. In 2006, Marseille Airport had the new MP2 terminal constructed especially for low-cost/ budget airlines. This is a special feature of the airport, as it was the first low-cost terminal to be built in Europe. The terminals are all close to each other, therefore there is no need for additional transportation between them.

Airlines that serve the airport include Alitalia, Air Malta, British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Israel Airlines, easyJet, helvetic and KLM Dutch Airlines. The airport terminals are full accessible for disabled/reduced mobility passengers.

There are two runways. The first one is 3500m in length and 45m in width. The other one is 2400m in length and 45m in width. The airport is open 24 hours a day and has no night ban for any of the aircraft. Marseille Airport covers an area of 600 hectares.

Marseille Provence Airport originated in 1934, although back then, it was only a small aerodrome that served the region. Over the years much needed expansion and modernization took place due to the increasing number of passenger and cargo flights. Marseille Airport is also the main base of the aerial firefighting division of Civil security. Since the airport began in 1934, it has been managed by the Marseille Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

Marseille Airport has many objectives relating to safety and customer satisfaction. Their aims are to provide useful travel information, adequate parking with assistance if necessary, easy to navigate airport halls, attentive staff, and plenty of entertainment and dining in comfortable and relaxed surroundings. At the exits and entrances of all the boarding lounges there are new large-font plasma screens that display flight information. A new children’s play area was created in Hall 3 to provide a distraction for the little ones.

Marseille has a mild, temperature climate that is strongly influenced by the Mediterranean Sea. The winters are mild and the summers are hot, although the heat is moderated by the sea breezes.

Passengers arriving at Marseille Airport have splendid views over the airport activities before descending to claim their baggage at ground level.

Find below a choice of Airlines, destination and flight times from Marseille Airport.

Some of the busiest airlines that fly from Marseille Airport are Air France, Ryanair and CCM between them they cover 48 of the total destination of 84. Air France is the most frequent with around 438 flights a week out of a total of 1736. Air France travels to 25% of the total destinations from Marseille Airport. Orly, Charles De Gaulle, Mérignac, Campo Dell Oro, Poretta and Nantes Atlantique being the most frequent destinations.

You can see below a selection of nonstop flights covered from Marseille Airport with approximate times

If you require a hire car when arriving at Marseille Airport you will find a good selection of popular companies situated in the Arrivals lounge or close by. Make sure that you have an up to date credit card when hiring your vehicle at Marseille Airport. To be sure of beating the queues at the airport it is wise to book your Marseille Car hire online, please visit the link for more information.