Air travel made yet more miserable

by Suw on October 26, 2006

As if flying isn't enough of a hellish chore these days, with daft hand luggage restrictions, over-zealous security and long waits, the French have decided to go one better with their new MP2 terminal at Marseilles:

The city of Marseilles has seen the future – it has no carpets. A minimalist, no-frills air terminal, intended specifically for low-cost airlines, opened yesterday beside the city's existing airport.

Carpets are replaced by a painted concrete floor. There is no air conditioning. Passengers have to carry their own bags from check-in to security control. There are no luggage trolleys. There are no shuttle buses or swivelling gangways to reach the aircraft. Travellers walk across the tarmac to reach their planes.

Independent Online Edition > Europe

Wonderful. That's just want I wanted. A miserable flight that lands at a miserable airport. It sounds worse that Charles de Gaulle:

The MP2 terminal at Marignane, near Marseilles, looks remarkably like a
freight hangar. That is not surprising. Two years ago, it was a freight
hangar.

Passengers will be encouraged, and expected, to spend as little time in
the terminal as possible. There are only 30 seats in the whole building.

Bugger that for a game of soldiers.

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Anonymous October 26, 2006 at 9:52 pm

wow, suxx0rs mucho. Even Bucharest's airport in the 90s was better than that… But then again, they were trying their best to be amenable, whereas this is decidedly an attempt at being nasty and spiteful. Great job, France!

Anonymous October 27, 2006 at 12:38 pm

Oh, I just *loathe* Charles de Gaulle airport! My father, who flew into Le Bourget, back in the day, preferred it over CDG. I can never forgive them for not properly marking the customs booth, thereby making me lose a sizeable VAT refund. Now, they put up the ultimate in no-frills in Marseilles – how will winter passengers survive the cold?

Anonymous October 27, 2006 at 12:44 pm

I always thought that airports made a huge percentage of their income from shopping. So does cutting out the profit making shops make this airport easier to run.
It smacks of the easy cinema idea of no frills movies without selling popcorn and drinks – which is where cinemas make all their money.

Anonymous October 29, 2006 at 2:28 pm

You've never been to Nottingham or Rhodes Airport, then, have you?

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