More than five years after the project was abandoned, the series continues.
The French construction group Vinci is demanding compensation of 1.6 billion euros from the State for the abandonment of the airport project at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, of which it was to be the concessionaire, the government said on Wednesday. administrative court of Nantes, confirming information from Ouest-France.
During a hearing, the court examined two cases “between the company Aéroports du Grand Ouest and its main shareholders (…) and the State relating to the abandonment of the airport project at Notre-Dame-des-Landes” , the court wrote to AFP.
“The compensation requested (by Vinci) amounts to 1.6 billion euros,” he said.
The judgment will not be rendered “for at least two weeks”.
According to the regional daily Ouest-France, the public rapporteur recommended the rejection of the request, arguing that the State's decision was justified by reasons of general interest.
Land puzzle
On January 17, 2018, the government abandoned the construction of an airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, in Loire-Atlantique, a controversial fifty-year-old project whose abandonment led to violent evictions and gave way to a land puzzle to redistribute land in the Deferred Development Zone (Zad).
The concession company, Aéroport du Grand Ouest (AGO), 85% owned by Vinci, demanded compensation of “several hundred million euros”, indicated Élisabeth Borne, then Minister of Transport.
The Vinci group manages 12 airports in France, including Lyon-Saint Exupéry, Rennes Bretagne, Toulon-Hyères and Nantes-Atlantique, and 70 around the world, according to its official website.