Strasbourg’s local authorities and chamber of commerce and industry, shareholders in Entzheim airport, have come up with a commercial development plan that will see taxes and fees reduced in order to draw more customers back to the airport.

“The airport suffers from competition from the neighbouring airports of Baden-Baden and Basel Mulhouse, where taxes are lower,’ explained Claude Liebermann, president of the board of directors of the society for the development of Entzheim airport. Shareholders are set to invest €2.125 million in the new system, which will cut the tax paid by each passenger from the current level of €29 to €24.

The number of passengers flying from Entzheim has fallen from two million in 2006 to 1.08 million in 2011. The TGV train service alone, launched in June 2007, has cost the airport 600,000 passengers. Flights from Entzheim to several international destinations, including London, Vienna and Munich, have been discontinued.

“We are now reversing this trend and intend to attract new air companies, if possible for international flights going East,” said Liebermann. Air France, the main operator from Entzheim, intends to open three new lines to Montpellier, Biarritz and Venice, and boost the capacity of flights to Nice and Toulouse by 140,000 seats.

At the end of March, a new air company will also begin operating from Entzheim, helping Strasbourg to re-conquer services that are currently running from Baden-Baden (1.1 million passengers) and Basel Mulhouse (5.05 million passengers in 2011).