La Tania Flying Guide
All the Ski Flights information you need
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Carriers and routes change all the time - Go, Buzz, Duo, EUJet and BA Connect have all disappeared and MyTravelLite & Excel no longer fly to any of our nearby airports. Note that many routes only operate in peak Winter season too.
You're all old enough to realise that schedules change frequently. This is just a guide to assist you and focuses on flights during the main part of the Winter season - many routes don't run in Summer at all and some don't get going fully until January with additional flights at peak holiday times.
Usually you're going to arrive in either Geneva, Lyon, Chambéry, or Grenoble airports. Turin Airport is also possible but at 4 hours and through the expensive Fréjus tunnel it's not really an option. There is also Annecy Airport where you can fly from Paris Orly Ouest and the option of flying in to the Altiport at Courchevel 1850 or Méribel if you're loaded! St. Etienne airport is no longer user by RyanAir but maybe used again in the future and there are occasionally flights to/from Paris Orly Ouest with TwinJet.
For further details of all the airports and transfer information including driving directions, car hire, private transfers, bus & rail links etc check out the La Tania Transfer Page.
2008/2009 Flights On Sale Now!
Comparison Websites =
cheapflights.co.uk - comparison site includes all published charter deals.
Openjet.com checks several low cost airlines - it may route you from Birmingham to Geneva via Barcelona using to save a few pence though!
skyscanner.net to compare the cheap flights on offer. It includes most of the low cost airlines and the map page is very useful in seeing where you can fly from.
traveljungle.co.uk checks the low cost operators and the established scheduled operators.
travelsupermarket.com cheap flights finder has it's One Search technology to check multiple agents and airlines at the same time.
flightmapping.com displays all routes to everywhere from the UK.
The No Frills Operators - 2009 Winter on sale for all operators by 14 July 2008
easyJet fly daily to Geneva from Bristol, Belfast, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Liverpool, Newcastle, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Edinburgh. Also from Glasgow on Sat/Sun. New for Winter 2007/8 were daily flights from Birmingham to Geneva. New for Winter 2008/9 are daily flights from Manchester to Geneva plus lots more Geneva flights from Gatwick and also Gatwick to Lyon.
Also flights to Geneva from all over Europe such as Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Hamburg, Ibiza, Madrid, Nice, Malaga, Lisbon, Olbia, Paris, Palma, Prague and Rome.
They also fly to Grenoble from Luton (Sat/Sun), Gatwick (daily), Bournemouth (Tue/Thu/Sat/Sun) , Bristol (Tue/Thu/Sat/Sun). and Birmingham (Sat/Sun).
Finally easyJet fly to Lyon from Stansted (daily), Gatwick, Rome and Madrid.
Ryan Air There is now a daily service to Grenoble from London Stansted with other flights to "Grenoble Lyon" (as they call it) from East Midlands (Sat), Liverpool (Sat), Glasgow (Sat), Dublin (Sat/Tue/Thu), Brussels Charleroi (Sat) and Stockholm (Sat).
Get in early and they still have those 1p each way flights (plus at least £30 of taxes, fuel supplements, additional insurance, security charges, airport upgrade fees etc etc then add on the hold baggage charges (only 15kg limit!), advanced boarding, manual check-in charges, credit (& debit) card charges, food & drink and ski, snowboard & boots carriage fees).
Turin could be an option if you're desperate - it's a 4 hour drive via the Frejus tunnel (about another £15 each way if I remember rightly).
BMI Baby fly to Geneva from Manchester (Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun), Cardiff (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun), East Midlands (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun) and Birmingham (daily).
Flybe
(was British European)
fly to Geneva from Southampton (Thu/Sat/Sun) and from Norwich, Exeter, Newquay, Jersey and the Isle of Man (all Saturdays only).
Also to Chambéry from Southampton (Tue/Thu/Sat/Sun), Birmingham (Wed/Sat/Sun), Exeter (Wed/Sat) and Norwich (Sat). Can be competitive on their mid week flights.
Beware of their ski length restrictions on certain flights - read the small print!
Jet2 flights for 2008/2009 on sale now:
Daily to Geneva from Leeds/Bradford & Manchester and new for 2008/9 are flights from Blackpool (Sat).
Also to Chambéry from Leeds/Bradford (Mon/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun), Manchester (Mon/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun), Newcastle (Sat/Sun), Belfast (Sat) and Edinburgh (Sat/Sun).
Snowjet has Saturday flights to Chambéry for 2008/9 on sale now from Gatwick (also Sunday), Stansted, Bristol and Manchester.
Save Time! Chambéry is by far the closest airport to La Tania, so you could slice up to an hour and a half off your transfer to resort.
Save Money! Snowjet prices start at £29 and are inclusive of all taxes, a 20kg baggage allowance and free ski or snowboard carriage.
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Thomson Flights
some charter options are available too along with they're scheduled ThomsonFly service for 2008/2009 on sale now which has Grenoble from Coventry and Bournemouth on Saturdays and to Geneva from Doncaster / Sheffield (Thu/Sun plus Wed/Fri/Sat at peak times).
FlyGlobespan Scotland's low cost airline fly to Geneva most days from Edinburgh plus flights to Chambéry (these not confirmed for 2008/9 yet).
Virgin Express fly to Geneva from Brussels which they use as their European Hub. Many options to Brussels from Heathrow with BA, British Midland and SN Brussels Airways.
Hapag-Lloyd Express - fly to Geneva from Cologne/Bonn. They fly to Cologne/Bonn from Manchester or possibilities exist to use in conjunction with GermanWings from Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh or Air Berlin from other parts of Europe.
With all of the budget airlines you've got to get in quick to get the cheap fares!
Major Scheduled Airlines Options - Usually bookable about a year in advance
British Airways
- now only fly from London (should they be renamed London Airways?), flying daily to Geneva from Heathrow & Gatwick. Also to Lyon from Heathrow (daily) and in Winter to Grenoble from Gatwick (Sat/Sun). Winter 2008/9 prices starting from Gatwick-Geneva at £82 return (inc all the extras).
Can often be cheaper that the no frills lot when booking at short(ish) notice or Saturdays a year in advance. They don't charge for seat reservations, credit cards, advanced boarding, hold baggage, manual check-in, food and skis/boards (yet!).
Swiss Air Lines - fly daily to Geneva from London City with prices from under £100 return if booked early enough. Also from Heathrow via Zurich.
BMI - fly to Lyon from Heathrow and Manchester - daily flights available but sometimes via Frankfurt (or the Manchester flight via London). Weekend London - Lyon flights can be under £80 return when booked well in advanced.
Air France UK
- fly to Lyon from Heathrow & Gatwick direct. Decent fares also available via Paris from many UK airports.
Can sometimes use a combined rail/air ticket using the fast Paris/Lyon connection. Also from London City direct to Geneva up to 3 times daily.
New last year were direct daily flights from Birmingham to Lyon up to twice a day from £99 return.
Blue Islands - Fly direct to Geneva from Jersey (Mon/Wed/Fri).
Lufthansa - via Berlin, Munich or Frankfurt from Birmingham and London.
KLM - via Amsterdam from some regional airports.
Etihad Airways - the national carrier for the UAE have started flying from Sydney to Geneva via Abu Dhabi. Very useful for all those Aussies who don't have to make that extra European connecting flight.
Matair used to fly (very small planes!) direct from South End to Courchevel 1850 Altiport in 2000/2001 - Their London type taxi is still in 1850 but the service isn't advertised anymore.
Holiday / Travel Agent Sites
- massive travel site with special offers on scheduled airlines and now searches charter deals too.
- travel site owned by the airlines, often cheaper than going direct.
- consolidator with more offers on scheduled flights.
deckchair.com - often has different airlines and some good deals - they got us to Japan for the 2002 World Cup for £350 return on Aeroflot via Moscow!
www.lastminute.com
- can be used
up to a year in advance despite the name and has discounted scheduled fares and great last minute Ski Holidays
.
www.thomascook.com
- major UK tour operator and travel agent. Package holiday specialist with late deals on ski holidays from several companies.
Thomson Holidays
- offering package ski holidays and low cost charter flights from local airports to all main ski resort destinations.
Charter Flight Only Deals
There are flight only deals with the holiday charter companies as well (nearly always on a Saturday - the main transfer day). The main holiday companies all come to La Tania. Transfers on their coaches are sometimes available for a surcharge too - bribing the reps for a lift doesn't seem to work however these days...
