Mountain Express Airport & Travel Info

Airports & Travel Info

If you have not yet booked your flights then this may help you make your mind up.....

Our top travel tips: Sunday transfers or better still weekday transfers are a pleasure for both passenger and driver with airport delays down to a minimum on Sundays and flights often arriving early on weekdays and traffic virtually non-existent. For this reason we offer discount ski transfers for Sunday and weekday transfers. Add to this the benefit of being on the slopes on Saturday, the best day on the mountain, with no lift queues and empty mountain restaurants as seemingly everyone else is travelling and all the season workers are busy with changeover duties and this becomes real all round value for money. Once you’ve travelled on a Sunday or weekday you won’t go back! If you have to travel on a Saturday try and find flights at obscure times. The mild inconvenience of getting up early or arriving late will be amply rewarded with significantly reduced transfer times and we do not apply any supplements to “out of hours” airport transfers.

Geneva Airport (GVA) has the widest range of airlines offering the most frequent flight schedules and flights usually run on time or with very minor delays. Geneva airport transfers provide easy access to all the ski resorts of the Tarentaise, Portes du Soleil and Chamonix ski areas and our ski transfers from Geneva airport to the Tarentaise resorts of the Three Valleys, Paradiski and the Espace Killy are now better than ever thanks to the new autoroute to Annecy. From touchdown to transfer vehicle usually takes about 45 minutes during busy periods but can be as quick as 25 minutes during off peak times. Geneva ski transfers to the Tarentaise take in some breathtaking scenery and our drivers know a catalogue of short cuts to use according to the time of day and traffic conditions making this one of the best options for airport transfers to this region. For example a Geneva airport transfer to Meribel, Courchevel or Les Menuires normally takes about 2 hrs 20 mins on an average Saturday and on Sundays it can take less than 2hrs! Flights into Geneva arrive from airports all round the world. UK flights include routes to the following airports; Birmingham, London Heathrow, London City, Gatwick, East Midlands, Jersey, Dublin, Liverpool airport and Leeds to name but a few. The French sector of Geneva airport is generally only used by Russian travellers without a Swiss visa and non ski related French travellers.

Chambery Aix-les-Bains Airport (CMF) is the nearest airport to the Tarentaise which includes ski resorts such as Meribel, Courchevel, St Martin de Belleville, Les Menuires and Val Thorens. It’s downfall is it’s unreliability, particularly morning flights in early winter when it is plagued with fog which often results in horrendous delays or diversions to other airports such as Lyon or Grenoble. Usually flights arriving from lunchtime onwards are unaffected, and when it’s running well it’s great as there are virtually no customs delays and you and your baggage arrive in the same main terminal reception hall as your driver meets you in so you can be through and on your way in as little as 20 minutes. However, during busy half term and peak holiday Saturdays it can be chaos with long delays for luggage compounded by over zealous flight scheduling which means the terminal hall simply isn’t big enough to take the backlog of travellers. Once on your way a ski transfer from Chambery airport to Les Menuires, Meribel or Courchevel typically takes about 1hr 45mins except on busy Saturdays when the lack of good alternative routes to the main autoroute can mean journey times increase considerably. Our drivers can skirt round the worst of it as you near the Alps but it’s still quite slow going. The following UK airports run flights in to Chambery; Birmingham, Leeds, Southampton, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Bristol, Exeter, Norwich airport.

Grenoble Airport (GNB) known as Grenoble Isere, is an airport trying to build its business and in the winter it often bites off more than it can chew! That said when it’s all running on time it’s a nice airport and ski transfers are usually very easy with parking right next to the terminal and it’s a pleasant transfer to the Alps thanks to a variety of route options which our drivers are trained in, to dodge the worst of the traffic on busy Saturdays. Grenoble airport transfers to St Martin de Belleville, Meribel or Courchevel usually take about 2hrs 15mins in normal traffic. A good option for ski transfers from Grenoble airport is to book one of the late evening flights which are great for missing all the traffic and usually run on time due to the reduced air traffic. You can often find really good cheap flights through this airport with EasyJet and Ryan Air. The only real drawback to Grenoble airport is the lack of facilities (the food is terrible) which can be a frustration if there are flight delays. Flights arrive from the following UK & Ireland airports; Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Kerry, Nottingham, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Plymouth and Newquay airport.

Lyon Airport (LYS) is known as Lyon-St Exupéry. Despite being a large international airport it copes badly with fog, otherwise it’s generally pretty good. It usually takes about 45 minutes from touchdown to heading off on your ski transfer from Lyon airport partly due to the 10-15 minute walk to the ski transfer minibus parking. Once on your way the journey can be a real drag with huge unpredictable delays on the autoroute making this one of our least favourite airports for Saturday travel throughout the whole of winter. Lyon airport transfers to Courchevel, Meribel or St Martin de Belleville would normally take about 2hrs on any day except Saturday when this can more than double! Sunday transfers and weekday transfers are the best option for Lyon airport.

Courchevel Airport. Private aircraft can only be landed here by a mountain rated pilot with a current Courchevel rating. Once you arrive you’ll need a taxi transfer to your accommodation. Our 4 wheel drive VW Caravelle 8 seater people carriers with comfortable leather seats, privacy glass and automatic climate control are the ideal way to complete or start your journey. The link on the airport name goes to the Courchevel Flying Club who can provide more information or you can contact the tourist office.

Transfer Times.

Please see below the approximate travelling times between the listed airports and the resorts of the Three Valleys. These times can increase considerably according to the the volume of traffic and road conditions however this is how long we would normally expect it to take on an average Saturday. Sundays and weekdays are normally quicker.

Geneva Airport to...

Courchevel 1550: 2hrs 20.

Courchevel 1650: 2hrs 25.

Courchevel 1850: 2hrs 30.

Le Praz 1300: 2hrs 15.

Les Menuires: 2hr.s 30.

Meribel: 2hrs 15.

Mottaret: 2hrs 25.

St Martin de Belleville: 2hrs 15.

Val Thorens: 2hrs 45.

Chambery Airport to...

Courchevel 1550: 1hr 35.