Flying from Regional France

Current Situation

Outside Paris, metropolitan France has around fifty airports handling passenger traffic, with over a dozen million-passenger airports per year, though there are significant disparities between cities and regions.

Western France

With Nantes, the West has had a true national and international airport for several years now, ranking among France’s top ten. Its "international" network is primarily focused on seasonal charter flights. As for Brest, the region’s second airport, its traffic is mainly driven by flights to Paris.

Northern France

Too close to Brussels and Paris, Lille has always been confined to a secondary role, with a few provincial routes and its share of summer charters. Nevertheless, the airport still exceeds one million passengers annually.

North of Paris, Beauvais-Tillé Airport saw a revival with the arrival of low-cost airlines, led by Ryanair. It now handles over three million passengers each year and can be considered, in a way, Paris’s third airport.

Eastern France

The proximity of Switzerland, Germany, and Luxembourg has somewhat hindered the international development of an airport like Strasbourg. Additionally, with the opening of the TGV line connecting the city to Paris, air service to the capital (traditionally the airport’s main route) took a significant hit. As a result, Strasbourg-Entzheim has seen its traffic decline in recent years, now handling around one million passengers annually, primarily on charter flights to about twenty destinations and a few scheduled European routes.

As for the Franco-Swiss airport of Basel-Mulhouse, it remains the one offering the most charter options in the provinces (up to 80 destinations), hosting flights from French, Swiss, and German tour operators. It consistently ranks among the top ten regional airports in France.

"Central-Eastern" France

Even though Lyon is only the second-largest regional airport behind Nice, or Geneva is nearby, it may offer the widest selection. You can fly directly or via low-cost airlines to around fifty foreign cities, plus just as many charter destinations (half in winter). Good connections to parts of Europe, the Mediterranean, the French overseas departments, and occasionally North America mean the airport handles nearly 8.5 million passengers annually.

It’s worth noting that while Clermont-Ferrand’s airport once held the region’s second spot, it has since been overtaken by Grenoble, which benefits from low-cost flights, particularly to the United Kingdom.

Southeastern France

This region is far from uniform when it comes to air transport. While Nice’s airport remains the largest in the provinces, it offers far fewer mainstream destinations than its Marseille counterpart. Marseille, on the other hand, has good geographic coverage of charter tourist destinations and European cities (plus a few African ones) traditionally served by scheduled flights. There’s also a strong presence of low-cost airlines. In total, the airport offers over sixty direct foreign destinations.

It’s also worth noting that air travel to and from Corsica is thriving, thanks to holiday flights and connections to the mainland. As a result, Bastia and Ajaccio airports each handle over one million passengers annually.

Southwestern France

Of the region’s three "major" airports, Montpellier is logically the smallest. Its traffic is heavily focused on Paris, with few direct international routes.

The mid-1990s were decisive in the Bordeaux-Toulouse rivalry for regional supremacy. While Bordeaux’s activity remains significant, Toulouse has seen the strongest growth, thanks in part to its Paris route, which faces little competition from the TGV, and increasing interest from tour operators and airlines. As a result, Toulouse-Blagnac now handles over 7.5 million passengers annually—almost twice as many as Bordeaux-Mérignac.

Direct Flight or Connection?

Travel agencies and airlines now increasingly offer flights from various regional cities. From airports like Lyon, Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille, and Toulouse, dozens of destinations worldwide are available...

But be careful—aside from charter and low-cost flights, parts of Europe or the Mediterranean, the French overseas departments, and most domestic routes, few are true departures from the provinces, meaning you reach your chosen destination without leaving your seat. Typically, these services involve a transfer in Paris or another airline hub (known as "pre-routing") to catch a flight to your final destination. This system accounts for about 90% of connections offered from regional France.

Pre-Routing from the Provinces

Principle

The pre-routing principle is fairly simple: an airline gathers passengers from various cities at its hub before transporting them together to their final destination.

So, if a regional city is connected by scheduled flights only to Paris and no foreign cities, 99% of the time, the flight will go to the capital with Air France or another airline serving Paris (sometimes even by train).

For major airports, pre-routing can also go to foreign airline hubs with direct connections to those cities (e.g., London for British Airways). It’s better to prioritize these to reduce the number of connections—unless you’re catching a direct flight from Paris, transiting through the capital will mean an extra stop.

Pricing

Depending on the destination, flight, airline, or city, prices and hubs will vary. In practice, prices offered by agencies or online for regional departures include the pre-routing cost, which can sometimes even be free (meaning the price from Paris or a regional city is the same). However, if an airline isn’t listed from your city but only from Paris, you’ll need to add the Paris fare to the price quoted for Parisians. Hence, as always, it’s useful to compare...

Most Common Airline Hubs from Regional France

• Air France: Paris

• Alitalia: Rome and sometimes Milan

• British Airways: London

• Brussels Airlines: Brussels

• Iberia: Madrid

• KLM: Amsterdam

• Lufthansa: Frankfurt and sometimes Munich

• Swiss: Zurich and sometimes Geneva

• TAP Portugal: Lisbon

For all other airlines, pre-routing will most often go through Paris first.

Choosing Your Ticket

You don’t choose a flight from the provinces using the same criteria as from Paris... While the general advice in the ticket search guide applies whether you’re leaving from Paris or elsewhere, regional travelers should consider a few nuances.

From the provinces, you’ll find direct flights (scheduled, charter, low-cost) or those requiring pre-routing to Paris or another European city serving as the airline’s hub. In all cases, it’s logically better to prioritize direct flights from your city if the price seems reasonable.

Paris Isn’t the Only Option

Too often, people only look for flights from the capital, assuming they’ll get there on their own, whether because they think there’s nothing from their city or that prices are much lower from Paris (which isn’t always the case).

If you live relatively close to the capital (within 200 to 300 km), you can focus on flights from Paris airports. For others, especially in the South, it’s essential to compare with what’s available from your city or nearby ones. Whatever the information source (physical or online agency, airline, search engine), you’ll often find that, with the pre-routing system, there’s little to no price difference—or at worst, the difference is easily offset by the extra cost of getting to the capital. Not to mention that if you’re flying with a foreign European airline, pre-routing will go directly to that country’s hub.

Benefits of Pre-Routing

In most cases, pre-routing from the provinces accounts for only a very small percentage of the total ticket price. So, it’s worth taking advantage of. Similarly, if you live far from the departure airport, it will usually cost less than getting there on your own. Not to mention potential accommodation and other transport costs to catch your flight. With pre-routing, your trip starts and ends from home.

Beyond the financial aspect, another advantage is that with pre-routing, schedules are generally well-coordinated, ensuring enough time between flights. You also won’t need to change airports if transiting through a major city (Paris, London, etc.). This is useful when you know, for example, that in Paris during peak hours, you should allow at least 5 hours between an arrival at Orly and a departure from Charles de Gaulle (or vice versa) to transfer comfortably.

Finally, when pre-routing is included, it’s part of your ticket to the final destination. Therefore, if there are issues—like a delay on the initial flight—the carrier is legally required to ensure you continue your journey under the best possible conditions. Otherwise, if you use other transport or airlines to reach the airport, there’s no recourse in case of unforeseen circumstances.