Rodez Airport (RDZ)

Rodez Airport is located in France, and is one of the growing airports of the country. It is approximately 12km, or 7 miles from the city centre of Rodez, and commonly known as the Marcillac, as it is also only ten kilometres from the town of Marcillac. The airport is distinguished from all similar establishments by its official IATA code of RDZ, and its ICAO code is listed as LFCR. Although only a small size, it is served by several airline companies, has a range of useful facilities within its terminal building, and is strategically located to serve a large number of towns and cities, in various departments of the country.

Rodez Airport specifically serves the city of Rodez, as well as other towns in the Aveyron department of France, and its catchment area also includes towns in the departments of Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gard, Lot, Lozère, Hérault and Cantal. It is located in the southern Midi-Pyrénées region of France, and is just south of the Massif Central. Rodez is the capital city of Aveyron, and is located in a less densely populated part of the country, but a part which is nonetheless becoming increasingly popular for tourism. It is also nearby the truly spectacular Viaduct du Millau (less than an hour’s drive), and nearby Millau are the Roquefort caves, where the famous blue cheese is made.

The airport is located in the commune of Salles-la-Source, and the areas of Onet-le-Château, Balsac, Clairvaux-d’Aveyron and Druelle are particularly nearby. Surrounding the city of Rodez are also the towns of Rodelle, Marcillac-Vallon, Valady, Montrozier, Bertholène, Laissac, Pont-de-Salars, Flavin, Calmont, Luc-la-Primaube and Baraqueville. On a larger scale, Rodez airport is considered as south of Clermont-Ferrand, north of Carcassonne, Castelnaudary and Toulouse, west of the Cévennes National Park, and to the east of Bordeaux and Cahors. Toulouse is about a two hour drive away. The main access road is the D840, which leads into the city of Rodez, and the nearest Autoroute in the vicinity is the A75. To the west is also the A20. The majority of passengers travel by private vehicle or by taxi, as there are no public bus services available, or a train station on the site. A taxi from the city centre will cost between fifteen and twenty Euro. Arriving passengers can rent a car from one of the Rodez Airport car hire companies.

Rodez is perhaps one of the ‘newer’ airports of France, having only been established in 1971, whereas many others have existed since the very early 1900’s. When it was founded, it was managed by SAEML Air 12, comprising of the CCI of Rodez, the Aveyron General Council and the main regional banks. Strong passenger growth was seen in the 90’s, when the airport was served by Air Liberté, but this company went downhill and the destination lost passengers. However, it once again became more popular, with a connection to the Paris Orly by Air France (Brit Air) in 2002, and with new Ryanair flights to London Stansted in 2003. 2003 was also the year when existing runway has been lengthened to 2,100 meters, and installed ILS, a new Instrument Landing System. Ryanair added a flight to Dublin in 2008, and around this time the parking area was extended, and the creation of a new departure lounge began.

The airport today consists of a single terminal building capable of handling 165,000 passengers, and which is equipped with the facilities required by arriving and departing passengers. There is a restaurant with good views of the runway on the first floor, a café on the ground floor, and a cash machine, vending machines, public telephones and information desks in the main hall of the building. Additionally, a conference room is available for professional travellers, and the terminal is equipped to welcome disabled passengers, with elevators to the first floor, pavement ramps, unobstructed walkways, suitable toilet facilities and reserved car parking spaces. The airport covers a total area of 156 hectares, and has two runways. The longer runway is of an asphalt surface, and the shorter is only grass, and approximately 2,625 feet in length. There is a cargo terminal as well, with a heavy aircraft hangar of 3,000 square meters and a shed for light aircraft of 1,880 square meters.

The three airline companies serving Rodez Airport are Air France, Ryanair and Hex’Air, and their destinations include Paris-Orly, Castres, Lyon, London-Stansted and Dublin, which is a seasonal flight by Ryanair. Ryanair’s headquarters are found in Dublin, and the airline company has its largest operational base at London-Stansted in the United Kingdom. They are often considered as the world’s favourite budget airline carrier, and are Europe’s largest low cost flight operators. Air France is one of the world’s largest airlines, and their base is in Paris. They operate scheduled flights to around 185 destinations in 83 countries of the world.

In 2010, RDZ handled 140,848 passengers, which was a slight increase from the previous year’s total of around 134,000 passengers. However, 2006 was the busiest year, with just over 150,000 passengers, and 2007 and 2008 saw over 140,000 passengers as well. Many of the French airports have seen a decrease in passenger traffic over the last year or two, but Rodez plans to increase their traffic to between 250,000 and 300,000 in the next few years.

Further details are available from the information desk, or passengers can contact the airport at 33 (0)5 65 76 02 01.

The IATA 3 Letter code for Rodez Airport is RDZ. It is also officially known as Marcillac. The GPS location is – 44.36667, 2.51667 which you can enter into your Smartphone/I phone to enable you to find your way.