Largely through lack of opportunity, the French have never taken to low-cost air travel. Only one in ten French air travellers has tried a no-frills airline, compared with one in three Britons. This makes the new terminal at Marseille, the first airport in the world where terminals are distinguished not by carrier or destination but by cost, a bold gamble.
When it opens next September, M-P2, short for Marseille-Provence 2, is expected to be used by Europe's two largest budget airlines, Ryanair and EasyJet, for regular flights, first to and from Scotland and Ireland and later other parts of the UK. The terminal will have facilities to handle six flights simultaneously on two levels and there are plans, so far unconfirmed, to provide a rail link direct into Marseille and Aix-en-Provence.
Perhaps less welcome for potential users of the terminal is the intention of its imaginative director, Pierre Régis, to make M-P2 no-frills as well. It will have no carpets, no moving walkways and no illuminated check-in desks. Passengers expecting to get rid of their bags at check-in may be unpleasantly surprised to find that they will be expected to carry them to the baggage handlers on the lower ground floor.
