Toulouse-Blagnac Airport deal signals rekindling of airport privatisation in France

France's traditionally conservative aviation policy has meant that air services have focussed around Paris. The result is that there are few large airports outside the capital.

Moreover, the privatisation of France's airports has been a long drawn out, stop-start process, which involved Aeroports de Paris at one end of the scale and a number of secondary level airports serving small cities at the other.

Sat patiently in the middle have been the primary level airports (only one of which handles more than 10 million ppa despite that designation).

But with the forthcoming privatisation of Toulouse Blagnac airport their time may have come at last.