Which areas around Marseille Provence Airport are quietest?

Marseille city itself is largely clear — the corridors stay over the Marignane basin and the lagoon, so most of Marseille, including L'Estaque on the northern edge, sees only high, occasional overflight. The Côte Bleue villages south of the Nerthe hills (Ensuès-la-Redonne, Le Rove) and the western lagoon shore (Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts) are shielded from the 13/31 axis. The map above lets you check any address.

Does Marseille Provence Airport have flights at night?

Yes. The airport operates 24 hours and has no full night curfew, so scheduled and cargo flights do run overnight. The only restriction between 22:00 and 06:00 is a ban on the noisiest marginal aircraft — older Chapter 3 jets and turboprops below set noise margins — plus a ban on engine ground runs. That is why the lagoon-edge communes have been campaigning hard for a proper 22:00–06:00 curfew.

How does the mistral wind change the flight paths?

The mistral is a strong north-northwesterly, so most of the time the airport uses runway 31: arrivals come in from the southeast over the towns and departures climb out northwest over the Étang de Berre toward Berre-l'Étang and Rognac. When the sea breeze takes over, the flow reverses to runway 13 — final approach is then over the water of the lagoon, and departures lift off to the southeast over Marignane and Saint-Victoret before turning.

Is Vitrolles affected by aircraft noise?

Vitrolles sits east of the field on the terminal side, along the lagoon. It is not directly under the extended runway centreline, so it gets sideline noise and traffic turning onto or off the 13/31 axis rather than the full low-overflight impact felt in Saint-Victoret or Marignane. Exposure varies a lot street to street — use the pin-drop tool above to check your exact location.

How do I report aircraft noise at Marseille Provence?

Marseille Provence publishes flight tracks and noise data on its public AEROVISION platform (aerovision.marseille.aeroport.fr), where you can look up individual flights and lodge a complaint with the airport's sustainable-development team. Environmental oversight runs through the airport's Commission Consultative de l'Environnement and the national noise authority ACNUSA. A network of seven certified monitoring stations records noise around the field.

Was a night curfew introduced at Marseille Provence in 2026?

No. In October 2025 eleven mayors of communes around the airport demanded a full 22:00–06:00 curfew, but on 14 July 2026 the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture refused it. Instead it proposed a tighter noise-margin regime for night flights — only quieter aircraft above set EPNdB margins — which still has to go to the transport and ecology ministries. Resident group Collectif Mistral called it insufficient, so the situation remains unsettled.

Does this map show every flight over the Étang de Berre area?

The heatmap and route-density layers are built from broadcast aircraft position data, which covers essentially all commercial jets and most turboprops using Marseille Provence. A small amount of light general-aviation and military traffic from the nearby Istres zone may not appear, but the corridors you see reflect the real pattern of airline traffic over Marignane and the lagoon accurately.

Marseille Flight Path Noise Map – Marseille Provence Airport (MRS)

Name: Aircraft noise observations near Marseille Provence Airport
Creator: Flight Path Noise
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Aircraft noise around Marseille in October 2026

Loudest neighborhoods near Marseille: Saint-Victoret, Marignane (centre), Gignac-la-Nerthe, Les Pennes-Mirabeau. Quietest: Velaux, Le Rove, Ensuès-la-Redonne, Cabriès (Calas), Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts. Busiest around 10 AM local time averaging 383 flights/day. Source: Flight Path Noise monitoring data, 30 days to 2026-10-19.

Flights by hour · last 30 days

12a6a12p6p

Average daily traffic

383

flights / day · 11,477 total

Busiest hour

10 AM

peak 95 dB

Loudest hour

10 AM

peak 95 dB

Loudest residential area

Saint-Victoret

74 dB avg · ~288 flights/day · Loud conversation

Almost on the extended centreline of the 13/31 axis — mistral-day arrivals to runway 31 pass low overhead and runway 13 departures climb out directly above the town

Does Marseille Airport have a curfew?

No — Marseille Provence runs 24 hours with no full night curfew, only a ban on the noisiest older aircraft between 10 PM and 6 AM.

Marseille Provence is one of the least night-restricted major French airports — it operates around the clock and has no blanket 22:00–06:00 curfew. What it does have is a mandatory ban on marginal aircraft under the arrêté of 3 May 2012: the oldest Chapter 2 jets are prohibited at all times, and between 22:00 and 06:00 the noisier Chapter 3 jets (cumulative noise margin below 10 EPNdB) and turboprops (margin below 8 EPNdB) may not land or start their take-off roll. Engine ground runs are also banned 22:00–06:00. Medical, humanitarian, safety and state flights are exempt. Pressure for a real curfew is intense: in October 2025 eleven mayors of surrounding communes formally demanded a full 22:00–06:00 curfew, but on 14 July 2026 the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture (Istres sub-prefecture) refused it, proposing instead a stricter margin regime for night flights (at least 13 EPNdB from 22:00–00:00 and 02:00–06:00, and 17 EPNdB from 00:00–02:00) to be put to the transport and ecology ministries. Resident group Collectif Mistral rejected the proposal as too weak, so the night regime is contested and may still change.

Marseille Provence Airport (MRS/LFML) sits right in the town of Marignane on the southeast shore of the Étang de Berre, about 25 km northwest of central Marseille. France’s fifth-busiest airport — around 10.8 million passengers in 2023 — it runs two parallel runways aligned northwest-southeast along the lagoon, so every operation is over water in one direction and low over the towns in the other. The famous mistral wind sets the pattern, and because there is no full night curfew, the communes pressed against the runway ends have become some of the most vocal noise communities in the country. Central Marseille, by contrast, stays largely clear of the corridors.

Which neighborhoods are quietest — and which aren’t

The airport has two parallel runways on the same 13/31 heading. The main runway, 13L/31R (3,500 m), is the northeast one on the terminal side; the shorter 13R/31L (2,370 m) lies to the southwest, nearer the Étang de Bolmon and the Berre lagoon, and handles lighter traffic and peak overflow. Both point northwest out over the water and southeast toward Marignane and the hills, so the noisiest ground is the strip of towns off the southeast ends.

Area	Aircraft noise	Why
Saint-Victoret	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Almost on the extended centreline; low arrivals and departures both
Marignane (centre)	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Host commune just south of the runway ends; overflight plus ground noise
Gignac-la-Nerthe	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Under the southeast corridor; a named departure-track target
Les Pennes-Mirabeau	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Runway 31 arrivals cross on final-approach alignment
Vitrolles	✈︎✈︎	East sideline on the terminal side; off the direct centreline
Berre-l’Étang	✈︎✈︎	~6 km NW under the runway 31 climb-out across the lagoon
Rognac	✈︎✈︎	Northeast lagoon shore under departures fanning north
Châteauneuf-les-Martigues	✈︎✈︎	Southwest; wide turns off the southeast flow
Velaux	✈︎	North of Rognac; higher-altitude departures only
Le Rove	✈︎	Nerthe hills south of the corridor; aircraft already climbing
Ensuès-la-Redonne	✈︎	Côte Bleue village shielded by the Nerthe massif
Cabriès (Calas)	✈︎	East of the plateau; off the core corridor
Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts	✈︎	West lagoon shore, away from the 13/31 axis
L’Estaque (Marseille 16e)	✈︎	Northern edge of Marseille; corridors stay north of the city

If aircraft noise is the priority, the practical move around Marseille Provence is to stay out of the Marignane basin. The band of communes off the southeast runway ends — Saint-Victoret, Marignane, Gignac-la-Nerthe, Les Pennes-Mirabeau — carries the heaviest, most consistent overflight. Central Marseille and its northern districts such as L’Estaque are effectively clear because the corridors funnel over the basin and the lagoon, not the city. Exposure changes sharply within a couple of kilometres here, so if you’re weighing a specific address, drop a pin on the map above.

Flight patterns and runway use

Runway choice at Marseille Provence is dictated by the mistral. This strong north-northwesterly blows a large share of the year, so runway 31 operations are the norm: arrivals approach from the southeast, descending over Les Pennes-Mirabeau, Gignac-la-Nerthe, Saint-Victoret and Marignane, while departures climb out to the northwest over the Étang de Berre toward Berre-l’Étang and Rognac on the far shore.

When the mistral drops and the sea breeze takes over, the flow flips to runway 13. Final approach is then out over the water of the lagoon — a genuine over-water arrival — while departures lift off toward the southeast over Marignane and Saint-Victoret before turning away. That reversal is why residents describe noise that comes and goes with the wind rather than staying constant, and why two homes only a street apart can report very different experiences depending on whether they sit under the arrival or the departure leg.

The shorter southwestern runway (13R/31L) takes lighter aircraft and overflow at busy times, but it shares the same 13/31 heading, so it does not open a separate noise corridor — it simply adds movements to the existing over-town and over-lagoon axis.

Noise-abatement work has focused on routing more departures up the middle of the Étang de Berre (coordinated with the neighbouring Istres military zone) and on optimising the southbound departure tracks that affect Marignane, Gignac-la-Nerthe and Les Pennes-Mirabeau. Noise is monitored by a network of seven certified stations, with public flight-track and noise data available on the airport’s AEROVISION platform. The route-density layer on the map above shows the result: a bright band northwest over the lagoon and a second southeast over the towns, with the far-field density dropping off as aircraft climb away.

When is it quietest?

Because there is no curfew, Marseille Provence never goes fully silent overnight — but traffic still follows a clear daily rhythm:

Night (10 PM – 6 AM): much lighter, and the noisiest older jets and turboprops are banned, but scheduled and cargo movements still occur. This is the window the surrounding mayors want closed.
Early morning (6 AM – 8 AM): the departure bank builds quickly as the first wave heads out over the lagoon on runway 31.
Daytime (9 AM – 6 PM): sustained, with domestic, European and seasonal leisure traffic; peaks vary with the summer schedule.
Evening (6 PM – 10 PM): arrival-heavy, tapering into the night.

The bigger variable is the wind. A shift from mistral to sea breeze, or back, swaps arrivals and departures between the towns and the lagoon within a single afternoon — so a quiet morning under over-water finals can become a noisy evening under low approaches, or the reverse. For the hourly profile at your address, drop a pin on the map above.

How to check noise at your specific address

The map above answers the question “is this spot loud?” for any address around Marignane and the Étang de Berre. Three steps:

Search your address or postcode in the bar at the bottom of the map.
Drop a pin — click the location marker that appears.
Read the noise report in the sidebar: average daily noise (Leq), peak observed dB, flights per day passing within 2 km, and an hourly breakdown.

The Noise Heatmap layer (orange/red = louder) and the Route Density layer (purple/magenta = busier corridors) make the parallel-runway pattern obvious: the loud band runs southeast from the runway ends across the Marignane towns, with the over-lagoon leg to the northwest. Most addresses in central Marseille and the Côte Bleue villages land in the quiet zone; the ones to check carefully are anywhere in Saint-Victoret, Marignane, Gignac-la-Nerthe or Les Pennes-Mirabeau.

Frequently asked questions

Why are there so many planes over Marignane and Saint-Victoret?: Marseille Provence Airport sits in the middle of Marignane, and its two runways run along the southeast shore of the Étang de Berre pointed straight at the towns. When the mistral blows (most days) arrivals descend from the southeast over Les Pennes-Mirabeau, Gignac-la-Nerthe, Saint-Victoret and Marignane. Saint-Victoret is almost on the extended runway centreline, so it catches both low arrivals to runway 31 and departures climbing out over the town. Drop a pin on the map above to see how many flights pass your street.
Which areas around Marseille Provence Airport are quietest?: Marseille city itself is largely clear — the corridors stay over the Marignane basin and the lagoon, so most of Marseille, including L'Estaque on the northern edge, sees only high, occasional overflight. The Côte Bleue villages south of the Nerthe hills (Ensuès-la-Redonne, Le Rove) and the western lagoon shore (Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts) are shielded from the 13/31 axis. The map above lets you check any address.
Does Marseille Provence Airport have flights at night?: Yes. The airport operates 24 hours and has no full night curfew, so scheduled and cargo flights do run overnight. The only restriction between 22:00 and 06:00 is a ban on the noisiest marginal aircraft — older Chapter 3 jets and turboprops below set noise margins — plus a ban on engine ground runs. That is why the lagoon-edge communes have been campaigning hard for a proper 22:00–06:00 curfew.
How does the mistral wind change the flight paths?: The mistral is a strong north-northwesterly, so most of the time the airport uses runway 31: arrivals come in from the southeast over the towns and departures climb out northwest over the Étang de Berre toward Berre-l'Étang and Rognac. When the sea breeze takes over, the flow reverses to runway 13 — final approach is then over the water of the lagoon, and departures lift off to the southeast over Marignane and Saint-Victoret before turning.
Is Vitrolles affected by aircraft noise?: Vitrolles sits east of the field on the terminal side, along the lagoon. It is not directly under the extended runway centreline, so it gets sideline noise and traffic turning onto or off the 13/31 axis rather than the full low-overflight impact felt in Saint-Victoret or Marignane. Exposure varies a lot street to street — use the pin-drop tool above to check your exact location.
How do I report aircraft noise at Marseille Provence?: Marseille Provence publishes flight tracks and noise data on its public AEROVISION platform (aerovision.marseille.aeroport.fr), where you can look up individual flights and lodge a complaint with the airport's sustainable-development team. Environmental oversight runs through the airport's Commission Consultative de l'Environnement and the national noise authority ACNUSA. A network of seven certified monitoring stations records noise around the field.
Was a night curfew introduced at Marseille Provence in 2026?: No. In October 2025 eleven mayors of communes around the airport demanded a full 22:00–06:00 curfew, but on 14 July 2026 the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture refused it. Instead it proposed a tighter noise-margin regime for night flights — only quieter aircraft above set EPNdB margins — which still has to go to the transport and ecology ministries. Resident group Collectif Mistral called it insufficient, so the situation remains unsettled.
Does this map show every flight over the Étang de Berre area?: The heatmap and route-density layers are built from broadcast aircraft position data, which covers essentially all commercial jets and most turboprops using Marseille Provence. A small amount of light general-aviation and military traffic from the nearby Istres zone may not appear, but the corridors you see reflect the real pattern of airline traffic over Marignane and the lagoon accurately.

Sources and further reading

Arrêté du 3 mai 2012 portant restriction d'exploitation de l'aérodrome de Marseille-Provence — Légifrance (Journal officiel)
Aéroport Marseille Provence — la préfecture refuse la mise en place d'un couvre-feu nocturne — Marsactu
Aéroport Marseille Provence — Mesures et événements bruit — Aéroport Marseille Provence
Aérodrome de Marseille-Provence — Le Bruit — Préfecture des Bouches-du-Rhône
Aéroport de Marseille-Provence — ACNUSA (French airport noise authority)
Marseille Provence Airport — Wikipedia — Wikipedia

Data updated 2026-10-19 — live ADS-B monitoring, rolling 30-day statistics (methodology). Article text revised 2026-07-17.

30 dB	Whisper
45 dB	Quiet residential
55 dB	Normal conversation
65 dB	Busy road
75 dB	Vacuum cleaner
85 dB	Heavy traffic
95 dB	Motorcycle nearby

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Marseille Flight Path Noise Map – Marseille Provence Airport (MRS)

Aircraft noise around Marseille in October 2026

Does Marseille Airport have a curfew?

Which neighborhoods are quietest — and which aren’t

Flight patterns and runway use

When is it quietest?

How to check noise at your specific address

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading

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