Nîmes Airport or Nîmes–Alès–Camargue–Cévennes Airport () is an airport located south-southeast of the city of
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
, in the village of Saint-Gilles near Garons, France. It is also known as Garons Airport or Nîmes Garons Airport. The airport serves the
Provence
Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...
Alès
Alès () is a Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. Until 1926, i ...
in the
Gard
Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;department, the Camargue area and the
Cévennes
The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...
.
It currently has some commercial services, operated by Irish carrier
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
, as well as serving as a naval air base. The French navy (Marine Nationale) pulled out some years ago. Their former facilities are now used by the Armee de Terre. The Securite Civile flying base, formerly at Marseille (LFML), has moved to Garons.
Facilities
The airport is at an elevation of above
mean sea level
A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...
. It has one paved
runway
In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
designated 18/36 which measures .
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Nîmes–Alès–Camargue–Cévennes Airport:
Statistics
Controversy
In April 2012, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
announced that it had launched an in-depth investigation into the financial arrangements that Nîmes Airport had with public authorities and
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
. The investigation would determine if public subsidies given to the airport, as well as rebates and marketing agreements with Ryanair, breached EU rules on state aid. The Commission announced that it would examine the following issues:
* whether public subsidies of over €2 million and cash advances totalling over €9 million received by the Chamber of Commerce between 2000 and 2006 and public subsidies received by Veolia Transport since 2007 covered their ordinary operating expenses as airport operators, thereby giving them an undue economic advantage over competitors.
* whether agreements (such as marketing support contracts and discounts on airport charges) between the airport operators and Ryanair would have been contracted by a market economy investor and, if not, Ryanair would have been receiving an undue economic advantage that its competitors do not enjoy.
* whether part of the aid received by the airport operators had been passed on to Ryanair.
In response to the announcement, Ryanair maintained that its 'arrangements with all EU airports comply with competition rules'.Financial Times: Brussels opens its 18th Ryanair probe /ref>