About

As far back as Antiquity, a Roman road called "camin roumiou", which can be found in Labouheyre, linked Bordeaux to Dax.

But it was in the Middle Ages that the future A63 came into its own as a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. The so-called "Way of Tours" takes up a large part of the route of the A63 from Muret to Lesperon. The moors, both an arid desert powdered with white sand and a hostile marshy wetland, are a great ordeal for pilgrims.

In 1660, the Royal Road of Spain, which Louis XIV used to meet his future wife Maria Theresa of Austria, bypassed the Landes via Langon, Roquefort and Dax to avoid the marshy areas of the Landes plateau. Rehabilitated for the passage of armies, it became route impériale n° 11, then route royale n° 10 after the Restoration.

In 1857, on the initiative of Napoleon III, the Assembly passed the law on the reclamation and cultivation of the Landes de Gascogne, which was to transform the region.

After creating Eugénie-les-Bains in honour of his wife, Napoleon III transformed the imperial estate of Solférino into a commune in 1863.

Until 1950, the direct Bordeaux-Bayonne link was known as route nationale 132, and it was only after the violent and deadly fires of 1949 that the current route became route nationale 10.

As holidaymakers took to the road, it became a popular route to the Basque country, the Atlantic and Iberian beaches and North Africa.

The RN10 has taken on a new lease of life in recent years with the economic development of the Iberian peninsula, and the increase in HGV traffic has justified its transformation into the A63.

Atlandes is the company holding the Concession Contract. It is a public limited company created at the end of 2010 with the sole purpose of executing the A63 Autoroute des Landes concession contract. Its shareholders are currently:

Holding d’infrastructures
de transport SAS

EUROPEAN MOTORWAY INVESTMENTS 1 Sàrl

51,216%

3657885 actions

DIF A63 Luxembourg Sàrl

17,3%

1 235 569 actions

Infrastructure Investment (A63) Holding Limited

13,825%

987 356 actions

Motorway Infrastructure SAS

10,182%

727 201 actions

NGE AUTOROUTES

7,477%

534 009 actions

Egis Exploitation Aquitaine is the company in charge of operating and maintaining the A63 Landes motorway. Egis Exploitation Aquitaine currently employs 100 people in jobs as varied as security patrols, toll collection, electrical and electronic equipment maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, management of the security control centre, administrative management, etc.

Egis Exploitation Aquitaine is a 100% subsidiary of Egis. Egis operates more than 4,000 km of motorways in 16 countries around the world.

Financing Atlandes :

The project was financed entirely by Atlandes, with no recourse to public funds.

Total funding of almost €1.1 billion was provided by :

• shareholders' equity of around €200 million.
• specific credit lines of around €900 million taken out with a pool of financial institutions. The initial bank loans were refinanced on 30 June 2015, with new financing for 25 years.

The financing of the project included the payment to the State in August 2011 of an entry fee of 400 million euros corresponding to the takeover of the existing infrastructure.

When Atlandes was refinanced in 2015, the proceeds of the refinancing were shared with the French State, in accordance with the concession specifications.

Atlandes headquarters:

15, Avenue Léonard de Vinci CS 60024
33615 PESSAC
Tel : 05 57 10 04 30
Fax : 05 57 88 69 37
Email : contact@a63-atlandes.fr

ATLANDES has been awarded the 40-year concession (2011-2051) for the 104 km section of the A 63 motorway between Salles (33) and Saint-Geours-de-Maremne (40), following a competitive tendering procedure organised by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing.

This concession is defined in a contract that is both classic...

• it sets a precise framework for tariffs (article 25)
• it makes the concessionaire (Atlandes) bear the risks associated with financing, construction, operation and variations in traffic (article 6)
• it provides for the return of the assets to the State free of charge and in good condition (article 38)

... and innovative:

• it includes performance targets in terms of service levels (article 14)
• it includes commitments in terms of sustainable development (article 13)
• It provides (article 24.2) for the payment of a contribution of €400m even before the start of the project to help finance the infrastructure,
• it provides for the fruits of the concession to be shared (article 30)

ATLANDES' mission is to:

• To finance the investment required to build the facilities and to pay the State an additional €400m to help finance the infrastructure
• Acquire the land required for the project on behalf of the French State,
• Design work in consultation with all local stakeholders
• Develop and build in line with the commitments made by the State and with respect for the environment
• To operate, maintain and service the infrastructure in accordance with public service requirements
• Integrate the state employees who used to manage the RN10