Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport

At first glance, Bordeaux-Mérignac looks like a typical French regional airport: orange easyJet jets, blue-and-white Volotea ones, plus Air France and the feeders of the big network airlines. If you look more closely, you quickly notice that there is more going on here. The air force takes off from Base aérienne 106 on the same runways, at the edge of the grounds Dassault Aviation assembles Rafale fighter jets and business jets of the Falcon family, and now and then an Airbus A310 that takes scientists into weightlessness rolls out to the runway. For spotters, Bordeaux is therefore a place where normal operations are solid – and the surprises make the difference.

Over a hundred years of aviation history in Mérignac

The history of the airfield reaches far back. As early as 1910, an aviation week took place at the Beau-Désert site in Mérignac, which makes Bordeaux one of the oldest airfields in France still in use. In World War I, the War Ministry bought about 60 hectares on the Teynac estate in 1917 – exactly where passenger Halls A and B stand today. American troops set up a school for observers.

In the 1920s and 1930s the airfield grew step by step. In 1931 a decree handed civil operations to the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce for 50 years, and in 1936 the first permanent terminal building was finished. On January 1, 1937, the air force base was officially established – so the coexistence of civil and military flying that still defines Bordeaux today is almost 90 years old.

World War II left deep marks. In June 1940, General Charles de Gaulle took off from Mérignac for England. Shortly afterward the German Luftwaffe occupied the airfield and used it, among other things, for four-engine long-range reconnaissance aircraft of the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor type, which searched for ships over the Atlantic. Allied bombing raids hit the airfield hard, and when the occupiers withdrew in August 1944 they destroyed much of it.

After the war the French air force returned first, and from 1951 to 1958 the US Air Force was also stationed there. On November 8, 1959, a new terminal building opened to plans by Raymond Mothe, and in 1962 the domestic carrier Air Inter began regular flights to Paris. By 1970 the airport already counted more than half a million passengers a year.

Dassault in Mérignac: where Rafale and Falcon are born

For many aviation fans, Bordeaux is above all one thing: the home of Dassault’s final assembly. The manufacturer has been active in Mérignac for decades, and today the plant at the airport is where the Rafale and the business jets of the Falcon family are put together. Parts come from other Dassault sites in France, and in Mérignac they become the finished aircraft, which also makes its first flights here.

The list of first flights that began in Mérignac reads like a short history of the Falcon family. On May 4, 1963, the prototype of the Mystère 20 took off here, which was marketed in North America as the Fan Jet Falcon and later as the Falcon 20. On February 6, 2015, the Falcon 8X followed, and in June 2026 finally the Falcon 10X, the largest model in the line so far. Types such as the Falcon 7X and the Falcon 6X also went through final assembly here. Many Falcons, by the way, still leave Mérignac in primer: they often get their paint and interior in Little Rock in the USA.

With the Rafale, Bordeaux is at the center of a production ramp-up. Besides the French air force and navy, numerous export customers have placed orders, and Dassault has announced it will raise the production rate significantly. For you that means: the chance of seeing a brand-new Rafale on an acceptance flight is as good in Bordeaux as almost anywhere – but it cannot be planned. Factory flights appear in no schedule, and test aircraft often don’t carry their final paint.

You can learn more about the manufacturer itself, its history and its other sites in the profile of Dassault Aviation. How to tell the various Falcon models apart from Gulfstream, Global and the rest is explained in the article Telling business jet types apart.

Base aérienne 106: the military at the same airfield

Air force base BA 106 uses the same runways as civil traffic. Its history is eventful: from 1964, Mirage IV nuclear bombers were stationed here, and from 1979 to 1992 a fighter squadron. Since 1995 the base has been named after Captain Michel Croci, a pilot who was shot down in Chad in 1984.

Today BA 106 is less a fighter jet site than a place for transport, support and administration. The transport squadron ET 43 “Médoc” flies single-engine turboprops of the Daher TBM type for passenger and courier transport. In addition there is a helicopter for airspace security, units for air traffic control and logistics, and the directorate responsible for the maintenance of the French armed forces’ aircraft.

An extra for spotters is the so-called Pélicandrome: at this station, firefighting aircraft of the French Sécurité Civile are loaded with fire retardant. Aircraft such as the Canadair CL-415, converted Dash 8s and, since 2023, also Air Tractor AT-802s turn up here – especially in the wildfire season, when the pine forests of the Landes are burning.

How to identify military types reliably is explained in the articles Recognizing fighter jets in Europe and Recognizing military transports. For preparation, Tracking military aircraft online is also worth a look.

The A310 ZERO-G: weightlessness from Bordeaux

One aircraft you can almost only see in Bordeaux is the A310 ZERO-G with the registration F-WNOV. The French operator Novespace uses the converted Airbus A310 for parabolic flights: on each flight it flies dozens of steep arcs, at the peak of which the people on board are weightless for about 20 seconds. Space agencies such as CNES, ESA and the German DLR use the aircraft for experiments.

Its history is also fascinating. The aircraft first flew with the East German airline Interflug and then with the Bundeswehr’s government flight service as “Konrad Adenauer.” Novespace bought it in 2014, and since March 2015 Bordeaux-Mérignac has been its home. Flight campaigns take place several times a year, often over several days in a row – if you are on site at the right time, you have a good chance.

Two crossing runways

The runway system consists of two crossing strips. The main runway 05/23 is 3,100 meters long and runs from northeast to southwest. It was completely renewed in 2011 and carries by far the largest share of traffic. The secondary runway 11/29 measures 2,415 meters and runs roughly from east-southeast to west-northwest. Both runways are 45 meters wide.

The wind decides which direction is active. With light wind or wind from westerly directions, direction 23 is usually active – aircraft then land coming from the northeast heading southwest. With an east wind, operations switch to 05. Check the current situation before you leave in a flight tracker or on a weather map; the articles Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport and Windy and other weather maps for spotters explain how.

Terminals: Hall A, Hall B and Billi

Passenger handling is spread across three areas. Hall A is the classic hall for international connections; its present building dates from 2005. Hall B opened in 1996 on two levels and was originally intended for the connections to Paris; today mainly Air France is handled there. In 2010 the single-story low-cost terminal Billi was added, expanded in 2015, with walks across the apron to the aircraft. The airport website currently names only Halls A and B – how Billi is used during the ongoing rebuild is best checked before your trip.

The airport is in the middle of a rebuild. Since mid-September 2026, according to the operator, you can no longer walk directly from Hall A to Hall B on the departure and arrival levels but have to take the route around the outside. In mid-October 2026, construction of a connecting building between the two halls began. Because routes and access points can change during construction, it is worth checking the airport’s website before your visit.

Who flies in Bordeaux

In scheduled traffic, the low-cost carriers dominate. easyJet maintains a base in Bordeaux and flies a broad network from here to European cities and vacation regions. Volotea is also represented with a base and connects Bordeaux mainly with destinations in France and around the Mediterranean. The offering is complemented by Transavia France, Vueling and Wizz Air, among others. Technically, the Airbus A320 family shapes the picture, complemented at Transavia by the Boeing 737-800.

Until fall 2024, Ryanair was also an important customer; at times about a fifth of passengers were accounted for by the Irish carrier. In May 2024, Ryanair announced its withdrawal after a dispute over higher charges, and from November 2024 there were no more Ryanair flights. The gap is clearly visible in the 2025 figures.

Air France today connects Bordeaux mainly with the hub Paris Charles de Gaulle and with Lyon. The formerly important shuttle connection to Paris Orly is history: since the high-speed line to Paris, the TGV takes about two hours, and France has sharply restricted domestic flights on routes with a fast rail alternative. The big network airlines bring feeders to their hubs: KLM to Amsterdam, Lufthansa to Frankfurt and seasonally Munich, Turkish Airlines to Istanbul.

Royal Air Maroc and Air Algérie come from North Africa, and the schedule also includes connections to Tunisia. Genuine long-haul is rare: Air Transat flies to Montréal. Because routes, frequencies and types used change with every schedule, the information here is explicitly as of fall 2026 – check the arrivals board before your visit.

Traffic trends: record, collapse, Ryanair dip

Between 2015 and 2019, Bordeaux grew strongly – from about 5.3 to about 7.7 million passengers. In 2017 the six-million mark was passed for the first time, driven mainly by low-cost traffic. The pandemic made the numbers collapse to about 2.3 million in 2020. By 2023, traffic recovered to about 6.6 million, and in 2024 it stayed at about that level. In 2025 the number fell to about 5.9 million after Ryanair’s withdrawal; that put Bordeaux in tenth place among French airports.

For you as a spotter that means: fewer movements than a few years ago, but more calm to note down registrations cleanly and wait for the extras.

Maintenance and industry around the airfield

Besides Dassault, other aviation companies are based at the airport. The maintenance specialist Sabena technics services Airbus types and military transports, among others, at Bordeaux-Mérignac. As a result, shipyard guests that aren’t part of the regular schedule keep turning up at the airfield – another reason to keep your eyes open. For the maintenance of the French armed forces’ aircraft, the responsible directorate is also based at the air force base.

Spotting in Bordeaux: what you need to know

Bordeaux Airport does not designate an official spotter area. Anyone who wants to spot looks for publicly accessible spots outside the fence, ideally in line with the active runway. Because military and industrial restricted areas adjoin the airport grounds, special caution is called for here: what looks like a harmless road can border a restricted zone. Find out beforehand in current spotter forums about proven locations and their rules.

For landings and takeoffs on the main runway 05/23, the two runway ends are decisive. With runway direction 23, landings come from the northeast, with runway direction 05 from the southwest. For frame-filling shots of narrowbody jets, a telephoto lens around 300 to 400 millimeters is usually enough; for fighter jets in the climb, more is welcome. Which focal length suits what is explained in the article on choosing a lens for plane spotting.

Getting there: tram, shuttle and car

Since 2023 the tram has run all the way to the airport. An extension of about five kilometers has connected the airfield to the Bordeaux network; according to the airport, line F now takes you to Hôtel de Ville in about 35 minutes and to Saint-Jean station in about 45 minutes. It runs every ten minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, every 15 minutes on Sundays. The 30’Direct shuttle bus is faster to the main station, taking about half an hour to Saint-Jean. There are also bus lines to the neighboring towns of Le Haillan and Pessac.

By car you reach the airport via Bordeaux’s ring motorway. For locations at the runway ends, your own vehicle or a bicycle is practical because the routes around the large grounds are long. Parking fees and access roads can change during the construction work – check them beforehand.

Incidents in history

The worst accident in the airport’s recent history happened on December 21, 1987: an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia of the regional airline Air Littoral crashed on approach to Bordeaux. All 16 people on board were killed. The airline itself no longer exists today; it ceased operations in 2004.

Bordeaux compared

In southwest France, Bordeaux is Toulouse’s big neighbor. If you want to see Airbus production with A350 first flights and the Beluga, go to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport; tips are in the article Plane spotting in Toulouse-Blagnac, and the museum Aeroscopia is right next door. The combination of Bordeaux and Toulouse makes a tour through the two big aviation industries of France: Dassault here, Airbus there.

Farther north on the Atlantic coast lies Nantes Atlantique Airport with a similar low-cost profile. You will find a comparably mixed offering with more North Africa traffic at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport. If you want long-haul and the Air France hub, take the TGV to Paris in about two hours and on to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

You see Falcons in customer service especially often at the business airport Paris-Le Bourget, where the Paris Air Show also takes place every two years. How to photograph business jets in a targeted way is explained in Spotting business jets. And if you combine the trip with more airports, the checklist Planning a spotting trip helps.

Conclusion

Bordeaux-Mérignac is an airport with a false bottom. Scheduled traffic with easyJet, Volotea, Air France and the network airlines’ feeders is solid but not spectacular – and somewhat quieter since Ryanair left. What makes the airfield special are the extras: Dassault assembles Rafales and Falcons here and sends them on test and acceptance flights, the air force shares the runways with the airlines, and the A310 ZERO-G takes off for its parabolic flights.

As everywhere, runway direction, light and patience make the difference. If you also respect the strict safety rules at factory and military grounds, you can write subjects into your logbook in Bordeaux that you will find at hardly any other airport in Europe.