Abstract
The French airport lanscape includes large international airports (Roissy Charles de Gaulle), large regional airports (Toulouse Blagnac) and local airports. Furthermore, the policy of decentralization has modified the terms of ownership and management of these airports. In this heterogeneous landscape, the regional authorities seem to become an important stakeholder, particularly because they improve their skills in land use planning, as shown by the example of “law NOTRe.” The aim of this article is to establish this fact through the case of the Occitanie region. The methodology is based on statistical data and interviews with air transport professionals. This case illustrates the limits that regional authorities face due to competition between airports, competition that was created mainly by low cost airlines and the omnipresence of the state in this sector. A closer look at this regional policy reveals the need for legitimacy of this new region, created in 2016, declaring itself leader of the regional airports policy.