Marseille Provence Airport

When you think of Marseille, you think of the port, the Calanques and bouillabaisse – not necessarily an airport. Yet Marseille Provence is an unusually versatile place for spotters. On two parallel runways on the shore of the Étang de Berre, low-cost jets, Air France shuttles to Paris, flights to Corsica and North Africa, and a few long-haul routes take turns. And at the edge of the apron sits Airbus Helicopters, one of the world’s largest helicopter manufacturers, whose machines are built, tested and delivered here.

A hundred years of aviation on the Étang de Berre

The airport is not in Marseille but in Marignane, about 27 kilometers northwest of the city. The location is no coincidence: in the 1920s the Étang de Berre, a large lagoon connected to the Mediterranean, offered ideal conditions for seaplanes. On October 22, 1922, the site was inaugurated as a civil airport, and in 1926 a scheduled connection to Paris followed.

In the 1930s, Marignane was one of France’s most important flying boat bases. The company Air Union moved its seaplanes here from Antibes in 1931, Aéropostale used the site as well, and the manufacturer Lioré et Olivier built seaplanes on site. Even Pan American’s big Clipper flying boats docked here at times. In “Wind, Sand and Stars,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry tells of an emergency return to Marignane with a fuel leak.

In World War II the airport was destroyed and rebuilt from 1945. In 1951 it finally replaced the region’s other airfields as Marseille’s main airport. Until 1986 it was officially called Marseille-Marignane, then Marseille Provence. In 2022 it celebrated its hundredth birthday.

Two runways, northwest versus southeast

The layout is quickly explained. Two parallel asphalt runways run northwest–southeast. The long 13L/31R measures about 3,500 meters and carries scheduled traffic, including the widebodies. The shorter parallel runway 13R/31L measures 2,370 meters. Both are 45 meters wide.

The Étang de Berre begins northwest of the grounds; to the southeast lies the way toward Marseille and the coast. Approaches to 13 therefore come in over the lagoon, approaches to 31 from the landward side in the southeast.

The Mistral decides the runway direction in use

As everywhere, aircraft take off and land into the wind. In Provence, the most important wind is called the Mistral: a cold, often gusty katabatic wind that sweeps down the Rhône valley from the northwest. When it blows, takeoffs and landings generally use direction 31 – aircraft land coming from the southeast and take off toward the lagoon. In light winds or southeasterly conditions the picture can flip, and direction 13 applies, with approaches over the Étang de Berre.

For you, the Mistral has two sides. It usually brings crystal-clear air and a deep blue sky – perfect conditions for crisp photos. At the same time, gusts make for bumpy approaches and occasionally pronounced crosswind when it doesn’t come exactly along the runway. If you want to film crosswind landings, you’ll find exciting subjects here on some days. How such landings work is explained in the article on crosswind landings; you’ll find the basics of runway direction in use under Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport.

Light in Provence

Provence is sunny, and you notice it when taking photos, too. Because the runways run from northwest to southeast and the sun stands in the south at midday, from the northeast side of the grounds you tend to have the light behind you during the day, while from the southwest side you shoot into backlight around midday. In the morning and evening the sun stands lower and more from the side – then the light gets softer, and the colors of the landscape around the lagoon come out better.

In high summer, all that light has a downside: heat shimmer over the asphalt quickly makes shots with long focal lengths blurry. Early in the morning and in the evening hours the air is calmer. How to calculate the sun position for a specific location and day in advance is shown in the article Planning the sun position at the photo spot.

Airbus Helicopters: the helicopter plant at the apron

The real reason Marseille has a special place in many spotters’ notebooks lies on the plant grounds next to the runways. Airbus Helicopters has its headquarters and its most important French plant in Marignane. The company was created in 1992 as Eurocopter from the helicopter divisions of France’s Aérospatiale and Germany’s DASA; since early 2014 it has carried the name of its parent group Airbus. Besides Marignane, Donauwörth in Bavaria is the second big site.

For the region the plant is a heavyweight: according to Airbus, Marignane is among the largest industrial sites in France, and according to French Wikipedia, Airbus Helicopters is the largest employer in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. From here, helicopters go to customers all over the world.

That means: over the airport, helicopters are regularly in the air that you hardly see at an ordinary commercial airport – brand-new machines on acceptance flights, prototypes and test beds. One example of the site’s role: on June 13, 2015, the first prototype of the Airbus H160 took off for its first flight in Marignane, having been presented here a few weeks earlier. The manufacturer’s product range also includes heavy types such as the H225 and the H175.

Which types fly on a given day can’t be planned. Factory and test flights follow no public schedule, and many machines still carry manufacturer registrations or neutral liveries. That’s exactly what makes it appealing: an H160 in primer gray or a helicopter in the livery of an exotic customer is a sighting you won’t easily get again.

Terminal 1 and Terminal 2

Marseille has two passenger terminals with clearly separated roles. Terminal 1 with halls A and B is the classic terminal for network and leisure airlines, including Air France, Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. Hall A goes back to a building from the 1950s. As part of the “Cœur d’Aéroport” project, Terminal 1 was rebuilt and expanded to plans by the firm Foster + Partners; it was inaugurated on June 17, 2024. About 22,000 square meters were added, and another 28,000 square meters were renovated.

Terminal 2 opened in September 2006 under the name MP2 as one of the first French terminals designed specifically for low-cost airlines. Low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet are handled here – with short walking distances and simple facilities that fit the business model.

In October 2025, the airport unveiled a new visual identity and announced investments of up to 350 million euros through 2030. A cable car between the station and the terminals is also in preparation; so far there is no reliable opening date.

Who flies in Marseille

The traffic picture is colorful. Low-cost airlines have the biggest share. Ryanair opened a base in June 2020 and flies to numerous destinations in Europe and North Africa from Marseille, typically with the Boeing 737-800 and newer 737 variants. Volotea has had a base since April 2018 and uses aircraft of the A320 family; Transavia France joined in 2022. easyJet is a regular visitor, too.

Air France has maintained a base for crews and maintenance since 2011 and connects Marseille mainly with Paris. Air Corsica, among others, flies to Corsica. Traffic to North Africa plays a big role: Air Algérie, Tunisair and other carriers from the Maghreb bring aircraft and liveries to Marignane that you see less often in central Europe.

On long-haul, the offering is manageable but varied. According to English Wikipedia, Air Transat flies to Montréal, Shanghai Airlines to Shanghai Pudong, Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa and Corsair to Réunion and Mauritius, among others. United Airlines has announced a seasonal connection to Newark for summer 2027. Routes and aircraft types change with every schedule – check the current arrivals board before your visit.

Traffic figures and cargo

Marseille Provence is growing steadily. In 2023 the airport counted about 10.8 million passengers, in 2024 just under 11.2 million and in 2025 about 11.3 million – more than ever before. In addition, there were roughly 87,000 aircraft movements in 2025.

Cargo grew too: in 2025 about 62,000 metric tons were handled, an increase to which, according to French Wikipedia, the direct connection to Shanghai opened in 2024 contributed above all. Express service providers such as Chronopost, DHL, UPS and FedEx carry the largest share; on top of that comes belly cargo in passenger aircraft, for example with Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa and Ethiopian. How the big parcel carriers set up their networks is covered in the article on the express integrators DHL, FedEx and UPS.

Firefighting aircraft and Sécurité civile

For decades, Marignane was home to the French firefighting aircraft fleet. The Sécurité civile, the civil protection authority under the Interior Ministry, had its main base for fixed-wing aircraft here – with the yellow-and-red water bombers that head out against wildfires in southern France in summer. In 2017 this base moved to neighboring Nîmes-Garons.

The firefighting aircraft haven’t vanished entirely, though. According to French Wikipedia, there is still a base across from the runways where firefighting aircraft of the Dash 8 Q400 type are filled with water or retardant. A Sécurité civile helicopter group with an Airbus H145 for rescue and search missions is also stationed here. Whether you get to see a water bomber depends entirely on the wildfire situation – in hot, dry summers the chance is much greater. The well-known Canadair CL-415 amphibious aircraft, by contrast, scoop their water directly from lakes and the sea in flight.

Getting there by train, bus and car

The airport is easy to reach. About 500 meters as the crow flies from the terminals is the TER station Vitrolles-Aéroport-Marseille-Provence on the line between Marseille and Miramas; a shuttle bus takes you to the terminals. Express buses connect the airport with Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. By car you reach it via the A7 motorway.

For spotters, as almost everywhere: the terminals are easy to reach, the runway ends and fences less so. If you want to photograph approaches to 13 or 31, you’re more flexible with a car or bike. In Planetrack’s spot map you’ll find locations with directions, best light, ratings and community photos.

Marseille compared

In southern France, Marseille is one of several big airports. Nice Côte d’Azur Airport lies spectacularly right by the sea and has more business and private jet traffic. Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport is the hub in the Rhône valley, and in Toulouse-Blagnac stands the counterpart to Marignane for fixed-wing aircraft: the final assembly of the big Airbus jets. The best way to spot there is covered in the article Plane spotting in Toulouse-Blagnac.

If you want to cover the connections to Paris, you’ll find the counterparts at Paris Orly Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, the hubs of Air France-KLM.

Conclusion

Marseille Provence is no mega-hub, but an airport with character. A hundred years of history from the flying boats of the 1920s to the new Terminal 1, a lively mix of low-cost jets, Corsica and North Africa flights and a few long-haul routes – and right in the middle the main plant of Airbus Helicopters, putting helicopters in front of your lens that you hardly see elsewhere.

Preparation makes the difference: Mistral forecast, sun position and a look at the arrivals board. If you sort that out beforehand, you’ll have a spotting day at the Étang de Berre that stands clearly apart from the big hubs in the north.