Conveniently located at an east-west, north-south crossroads, Provence is strategically positioned at the heart of the Mediterranean Arc.
The Bouches-du-Rhône are a gateway to the world, with:
• An international airport
- 2nd French airport for cargo traffic, with 54,011 metric tons of cargo in 2008;
- 3rd French airport (excluding Paris) for passenger traffic with 6.9 million passengers in 2008;
- direct routes to 74 cities in 28 countries;
- MP2: 1st terminal in Europe dedicated to low-cost flights; Ryanair first permanent hub in France.
• Marseille-Fos : largest port complex in France and the Mediterranean
- 3rd oil port in the world
- 40,000 jobs total; 50,000 expected by 2012
- 540,000 cruise passengers in 2008; an increase of 100,000 over 2007
- Geographically diversified services: 400 ports-of-call in nearly 140 countries
- 66 shipping companies represented
• 2 TGV (High speed train) stations in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille : a 3-hour ride to Paris
- 22 million passengers per year,
- 2 train stations: Aix-en-Provence TGV and Marseille TGV Saint Charles,
- 17 daily round trips to the center of Paris and Paris-Charles de Gaulle,
- Marseille-Paris: 3 hours
- Marseille-Brussels: 5 hours.
• A river port : Arles, largest river port on the Rhône River
- Accommodates vessels up to 3,000 metric tons,
- Over thirty tramping connections to Eastern Europe, North Africa, Northern and Southern Europe, and the Near East
- Multimodal platform (road / rail / sea / river)
- 11 hectares (27 acres) and 40,000 m² (over 430,000 sq. ft.) of warehouses on a fenced-in secured site,
- 40 hectares (100 acres) for the installation of transport and logistics companies
• A highly-developed road and motorway system
- 250 km ( 150 miles) of motorways
- 600 km ( 375 miles) of national roads.
