Vincent Godin sat at a table in a bakery near the entrance to a large DIY store. Not far away, in the middle of the fields of Oise, the blue and yellow planes of a famous low-cost airline took off from the only runway at Paris-Beauvais airport. Using a tablet to provide illustrations, Godin described the trajectories of take-offs and landings, the increase in traffic, the peak days at the time of bridges and summer departures... The data is compiled on a site he created himself.

"We don't want the airport to close, we just want limits. After all, we have to put up with pollution and inconvenience in the name of economic benefits," said the 40-year-old engineer, a member of the ADERA association, which opposes the airport's sound and air pollution. Before getting back on his bike, he added, a little dejectedly: "For all these years, we've known full well that the airport's development is just going to increase the number of passengers who want to go and see the Eiffel Tower or go on weekend trips to European cities."

On Tuesday, March 11, his association, along with two others, made public their new legal action. In mid-January, these opponents filed a petition with the Amiens administrative court against the new airport concession contract signed in April 2024. In their brief, they condemn the "rapid and unconsidered" increase in traffic since the arrival of low-cost airlines in 1997. In 1996, 64,000 passengers passed through the small airport. By 2024, the number rose to 6,560,000. From 4,200 in 2000, the number of commercial movements (take-offs and landings) has risen to 39,000 in 2024.

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