Xavier Bernier

Regional airports and the accessibility of mountain areas: networks, importance and contribution to development

The role and importance of regional airports in mountain areas is examined in this paper. From regional airports serving mountain areas to high-altitude aerodomes (altiports) and airstrips (altisurfaces) in mountain resorts, the question of accessibility is examined at different scales. Also investigated are the ways in which air transport is integrated into intermodal transport systems serving tourist areas, most notably mountain resorts. Many airports serving mountain areas are faced with problems of over-sizing or seasonal congestion, given the highly seasonal and specific nature of their use. Issues such as the socio-economic and environmental integration of regional airports are also extremely important for mountain areas. Altiports and altisurfaces can contribute substantially to the tourism development of mountain regions by improving accessibility for visitors and through leisure aviation. As a result, regional airports have a substantial impact on an areas image, whether they are viewed positively, as an aid to development, or negatively, as harmful to the environment. Several case studies that highlight different aspects of regional air transport in mountain areas were the basis for the present analysis. The story of Air Alpes illustrates the specifities of regional airport development in the Alps, and particularly in France. Links between the United Kingdom and Chambery and Grenoble airports, which are dominated by low-cost airlines, are also the focus of attention. Examples of mountain-periphery and extra-mountain airports in France, Switzerland and Nepal are examined, by way of looking at the larger picture, in order to investigate the formation of networks, the importance of regional airports and their contribution to regional development.

Atlas des montagnes

Plus de 90 cartes et infographies pour comprendre les liens tisses entre les societes et les montagnes du monde : une invitation a un grand voyage geographique. • Des cles d’interpretation pour saisir la place des montagnes dans le monde a travers les grands enjeux contemporains : le developpement economique, l’environnement, l’amenagement, la geopolitique. • Une occasion de decouvrir la diversite des montagnes : lieux d’aventures et de decouvertes, habites ou simplement traverses, refuges de peuples opprimes ou theâtres de guerre. • Une ouverture sur les montagnes magiques et sacrees, revees ou cauchemardees, transcendees par les arts. Cet atlas se nourrit d’exemples choisis sur tous les continents, y compris ceux de l’imaginaire, et propose un regard neuf sur les pratiques associees aux mondes d’en haut. « La densite des phenomenes spatiaux et de leurs arrangements fait des montagnes du monde les lieux d’une evidente geodiversite ou s’exprime la fantaisie des societes. »