Chambery Airport Guide
Also known as Chambery-Savoie or Chambery Aix-les-Bains, Chambery airport is located 12km the city on the edge of Lake Bourget. The airport here was founded in 1938 but commercial flights didn’t start landing until 1960. Chambery has subsequently developed in to a small international airport which operates only during the winter months.
The key benefit of Chambery airport is that it is the closest airport to the Tarentaise Valley and France’s most popular ski resorts such as Meribel, Courchevel, Tignes & Val d’Isere. Transfers to these resorts from Chambery are some of the quickest, and cheapest, available. Easy connections to the highways running to the ski resorts mean transfer journeys of well under 2 hours and gives a time saving of over an hour on neighbouring Grenoble and Lyon airports.
Approximately 200,000 skiers and snowboarders take advantage of Chambery airport each winter season. Many of these are travelling on package holidays as some of the biggest tour operators have made Chambery their transport hub. When everything runs smoothly Chambery can be a delight to travel through. A short walk from the aeroplane to the terminal, one luggage carousel located in the middle of the arrivals hall, and convenient meeting points for onward travel mean Chambery airport can be experienced with minimal fuss when working correctly.
Unfortunately, it would be remiss of us not to mention that Chambery airport has been a bit of a victim of its own success in recent years. Its popularity meant more commercial and tour operator flights landing each weekend during the winter months. An increased footfall in an essentially part-time airport meant that the staff and equipment were pushed to, and often over, breaking point at busy times. The airports location at 238 metres above sea level and surrounded by mountains also means that if there is any bad weather Chambery is adversely affected.
Chambery airport now concentrates more on tour operator flights as well as private jets. However there are still commercial flight options to be found from FlyBe, British Airways & Transavia. Private transfers from Chambery to France’s best ski resorts are plentiful, and the airport remains popular due to its excellent location for quick onward journeys.
