Marseille Provence Airport or Aéroport de Marseille Provence is an airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located 27 km northwest of Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, on the territory of Marignane

Marignane

Marignane is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France.-Geography:It is a component of the metropolitan Marseille Provence Métropole, and the largest suburb of the city of Marseille...

, both communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...

 département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...

 région

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Formerly known as Marseille-Marignane Airport, it has been managed since 1934 by the Marseille-Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

It is the fifth busiest French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 by passenger traffic and second largest for cargo traffic. The airport handled 6,155,154 passengers in 2006, 6,963,000 passengers in 2007, 6,965,933 passengers in 2008, 7,290,119 in 2009 and 7,522,167 in 2010.

In September 2006 the airport opened its new terminal MP2 for budget airlines.

Terminals, airlines and destinations

Cargo airlines

Other facilities

The Marignane airport is also the main base of the aerial firefighting

Aerial firefighting

Aerial firefighting is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing...

 division of Civil security (French Ministry of the Interior). The head office of Eurocopter is located on the airport property.

Hydroplane base

In the 1920s and 1930s, Marignane was one of France's main points of operation for flying boats. It even briefly served as a terminal for PanAm

Panam

Panam may refer to:* Pan Am , a television series centered around Pan American World Airways during the 1960s* Pan American World Airways, the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927–1991...

's Clipper flying boats. Some other hydroplane operators were Aéropostale

Aéropostale (aviation)

Aéropostale was a pioneering aviation company. It was founded in 1918 in Toulouse, France, as Société des lignes Latécoère, also known as Lignes Aeriennes Latécoère or simply "The Line" .- History :Aéropostale founder Pierre-Georges Latécoère envisioned an air route connecting France to the...

 and Air Union

Air Union

Air Union was a French airline established 1 January 1923 as the result of a merger between the airlines Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes and Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens...

, the latter moving over from Antibes

Antibes

Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...

 in 1931. Marignane was also a production site for hydroplanes by Lioré et Olivier

Lioré et Olivier

Lioré-et-Olivier was a French manufacturer of aircraft of the 20th century, founded in 1912 by Fernand Lioré and Henri Olivier.The company was nationalized in 1936, becoming a part of SNCASE.-Aircraft designs:* Lioré et Olivier LeO 7...

.

Accidents and incidents

• On 6 February 1989 Inter Cargo Service Flight 3132, operated by Vickers Vanguard
  Vickers Vanguard
  The Vickers Type 950 Vanguard was a British short/medium-range turboprop airliner introduced in 1959 by Vickers-Armstrongs, a development of their successful Viscount design with considerably more internal room. The Vanguard was introduced just before the first of the large jet-powered airliners,...
  
  F-GEJE crashed on takeoff. 3 crew died, no passengers carried.

External links

• Marseille Provence Airport, official site in English and French
• Aéroport de Marseille-Provence page at Union des Aéroports Français