FBO

The Jewel in the Edeis Network: Annecy Mont-Blanc Airport, Portal to the Alps

In the shadow of the blue and silver French Alps, close to the city of Geneva, the Edeis-managed airport at Annecy Mont-Blanc has a number of factors to use to its advantage.

The airport staff of fourteen people is a small, dedicated and fiercely passionate group. The low turnover rate at Annecy demonstrates how people and their skills are integral to how the airport works and how comfortable the staff feel working there.

Edeis, a new French company specialising in many infrastructure projects across Europe, mainly France, assumed operations of 18 airports on 30th December; Annecy has clearly been polished as a jewel in its network since. Remarking on assuming operations at Annecy, the company called it a “tremendous opportunity to develop.”

The company note that, “as a contractual operator of public services, [we] provide each airport with an overall commercial development program as well as operational and financial optimization, thanks to the specialists working within [our] network.”

Annecy airport believe in receiving wider recognition for what it can offer and the quality of service it already provides. Since May 2017, Annecy has been the leading airport in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region and it is also the first airport in the Edeis group to obtain IS-BAH certification for business aircraft. 40,000 flights were recorded in 2017, including 2,400 business flights, which looks set to grow in 2018.

Annecy is “best alternative to Geneva Airport,” according to Simon Dreschel and Jérôme Pannetier. The two express how Annecy is conducive to accessing the Alps easily. “Geneva is busy,” notes Pannetier and there are many more slots at Annecy airport making life easier for jet owners.

No slot restraints at the airport also allow travellers a smoother, easier ride. A tug, deicing equipment and a full fire department are also used and on-hand on the apron to ensure smooth operations.

A major development at the airport over the last year has nearly tripled the size of the apron leading to added capacity. A refurbishment of the FBO lounge at the airport, also operated and managed by Edeis, has also put travellers’ comfort and accessibility as a foremost concern. The apron can be directly accessed by a single door from the lounge, steps away.

Annecy airport is also beginning to demonstrate how it is a hub for local business aviation. More and more fliers local to the region and wider communities across France are choosing to land on Annecy’s tarmac. Jerome and Simon recognize that this will ultimately be beneficial to the local economy in the Annecy region. Annecy also capitalizes on the “frontier” of business and leisure travellers, offering a service to those who fly to private airports for both business and downtime.

The development at Annecy airport does not stop in 2018 however. Alongside a strategic partnership with Jetex, a leading FBO provider in the world, the airport also has plans to construct a hangar for business aviation customers to store aircraft in so they are not stationary on the runway. Furthermore, Edeis wish to invest in a revamp of the current terminal at the airport, allowing customers even sweeter satisfaction, to “improve the quality of service,” according to Jerome and Simon.

The contract that Edeis currently have to manage and operate at Annecy will run out in 2020. Edeis wish to offer a tender during that time, ensuring that this passionate French company will want to work on Annecy well into the future.

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