Midweek Grenoble Airport dormancy

A snowHead

Has anyone else noticed this, and more usefully, found out the rationale behind it?

Basically, pretty much all midweek flights in and out of Grenoble this winter by all carriers - save for a solitary Tuesday effort to/from Dublin - have been caped, and I can't for the life of me see why.

Having used Easyjet LGW-GNB on obscure days for years, and those harp-crested Shylocks from Stansted before that, I've always found them to be well patronised and apparently viable, although the airport was never as busy as the mayhem visited upon its little building every weekend.
Maybe I'm over-simplifying it a bit, but with the same girl working the check-in as sees you onto the plane, about half a dozen gendarmes operating the scanners and the douanes between them, plus a coin-op coffee machine for your refreshment needs, it doesn't strike me as particularly labour-intensive given the numbers passing through.

Selfishly, I'm a bit miffed - not least because it means we now have to use Lyon and hire a car if we want to grab a few days out there, but also because a lot of my punters do the same thing, and I fear the hull of my good ship's business model has been ever so slightly punctured!

Any soothing words about this being a temporary aberration in the GNB control tower, and that normal service will resume in due course would be gratefully received, but I can't say I'm hugely optimistic...

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

There has been quite a lot of scuttlebutt about the long term viability of GNB - perhaps this is an element of cutting back. I agree its a shame as it is a great airport midweek, not bad on Sundays but has the potential for a nightmare on Sats. Plus for those of us tripping back to the UK for a mis season break the parking is very good value when compared to the highway robbery that is Geneva!

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@paulmck, harp-crested Shylocks! Are you Dylan Thomas in disguise? Fantastic.

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Can't see it myself, Gnb flights have been decreasing over the years. I've used Lyon a couple of times this summer and public transport to L2A is OK but not as convenient as Bensbus direct service. Even Geneva isn't too bad with a reasonable shuttle to Grenoble.

I shall be out there all winter but probably looking at flying home for a few days at Christmas and Geneva to Stansted is my likely route.

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Doesn't look like it has a great future either...

http://www.grenoble-airport.com/en/destinations/schedules-regular-lines

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@under a new name, according to that there aren't any internal flights either. I'm sure in previous years when pricing up flights I've been offered flights to somewhere within France with a connecting flight to Grenoble. Hopefully as they have the infrastructure in place they can just keep the place ticking over for weekend flights rather than a complete shutdown.

After all it is free

@hammerite, even BA had a flight to Grenoble a couple of seasons ago (maybe longer). I also thought there were flights to Russia at one time.

@Hells Bells, I think Easyjet flirted with weekly summer flights at one point a couple of years ago.

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@hammerite, skyscanner can't find any flights in January on a Wednesday either...

Wonder how they can operate effectively just at weekends.

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It's so close to Lyon and Chambery airports, there must be a limit to how many they need.... Like having airports at Gatwick, Eastbourne and Portsmouth (where the population catchment is probably greater).

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I wonder if they have freight planes going in there during the week?

@Hells Bells, Not much but there's the residential pilots school (part of ENAC) plus a couple of local flying schools to keep the runway busy. There will also be biz-jet flights - but it still amazes me where the get the trained and security accredited staff for 15 busy weekends a year. It's not as if the other local airports have spare staff at weekends. As the other 3 are also at or close to capacity I hope it can remain open or the number of flights in total will drop.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Ryanair used to fly from Dublin to Geneoble every Tuesday and Saturday and now it's one Tuesday per year and a few weeks on Saturday.
Shame as it helped to get the cheapest ski break I could ever manage. Flights €50 return, coach to Alpe d'Huez/ Les2 alpes about the same and some cheap sh1tty accommodation for about €25 per night.

A snowHead

A snowHead

@davidof, A few years ago one airline used to fly to St Etienne. They called it Lyon. The airline concerned is famous for its lack of geographical knowledge. Mind you Grenoble airport is hardly near Grenoble, but then I see it is also called Lyon - Grenoble.

Actually it is probably a good thing airports are named after near by large towns. Speke, Yeadon, Elmdon, Heathrow, Ronaldsway etc take some knowledge to know where you are fying from. And as for fying from John Lennon to Rodald Reagan via O'Hare who knows what you are doing.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@johnE, Or even worse when the attendants talk in US colloquialisms - From one internal flight it was "Welcome aboard this flight from the twin cities to the mile high city".

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@mountainaddict, Very Happy

But have you seen the average US stewardess........

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chocksaway Er, yes.. Toofy Grin

After all it is free

I lived in Derby when East Midlands was renamed Nottingham East Midlands. The Derby Evening Telegraph were disgusted! Iirc East Mids Airport is in Leicestershire, with a Derby postal address but marginally closer to Nottingham.

Think it's switched back to East Mids now.

@hammerite, and a terminal from the third world (and that's after the walk through the puddles if you are on a far stand)!

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@chocksaway, not flown from there in a while so no idea! It was always pretty quiet though.

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@hammerite, Is it not called Castle Donnington?

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Thanks everyone for your observations - very interesting, and I'm glad I asked!
I'll ask Ben the Bus whether a LYS-AdH/LDA (don't you just love a TLA?) service has occurred to him, and whether he feels it might be viable.
I'll let you know what he says.

You know it makes sense.

@paulmck, That certainly would be good. The bus from St Exupery to Grenoble Gare is very good, generally every 30 minutes, takes an hour and from memory about 36 euros return. However local bus(es) to L2A can be extremely painful, 2.5 hours or more with a further change at Bourg D'Oisans. To catch a 2pm flight I had to catch the 7.15 bus from resort Shocked

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Claude B, You want to try to get from St. Exupery to Grenoble airport on a bus then. I think that took me about 3 hours altogether, which was 2 buses and a long walk. ( Had to do it because left my car there and had to go back midweek, which comes back to the OP....... Went past the motorway junction for the airport twice rolling eyes

A snowHead

A snowHead

Well, I've heard that although our favourite transfer provider would like to offer a service from LYS to LDA/ADH, France being well, France, things are not quite that straightforward. Hence, it's not likely to happen this season, but it nonetheless remains a tentative ambition.
As Claude and Skitow have noted, the alternative public transport options on this route are about as unappealing as they come. Still, at least the car hire isn't too extortionate if you book it early enough.

Fingers crossed for some more positive developments in the future. rolling eyes

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Here is a company that does transfers from Grenoble to ADH & L2A;
http://www.chairlift.eu

Help!!

Midweek Grenoble Airport dormancy

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