Traveling to Madagascar with Neos

Hi there, we’re planning a trip to Nosy Be next summer and we’ve come across Neos Air, which offers direct flights from Rome and Milan. It looks really appealing, but how reliable are they, especially in terms of punctuality—particularly for evening departures?

hi, it's a charter company that only operates in Nosy Be (the Malagasy Punta Cana or Phuket) just during the European summer season. it's mainly aimed at Italians who populate the island of Nosy Be at that time. it's a choice!! 😕

We’re planning to explore northern Madagascar and then wrap up with a few days in Nosy Bé. Since it’s a road trip, I want to make sure we arrive in Nosy Bé on the scheduled date. Plus, there are few flights with Neos, so it’s impossible to reschedule if a flight is canceled—especially the one leaving Rome at 11:50 PM. So I’m leaning toward a longer but more reliable route in terms of punctuality. Already burned by low-cost airlines that depart late in the day.

Hi again, I don’t know where you’re departing from, but for Nosy Be there’s Air Austral via Mayotte or Réunion. There’s also Ethiopian Airlines via Addis Ababa, but the layover is often really long. Otherwise, you can go via Tana (Antananarivo) and then take a domestic flight to Nosy Be or Diego Suarez!! Turkish Airlines has flights from Lyon, Marseille, or Toulouse—if you’re leaving from Saint-Étienne, you’d go via Lyon to Istanbul and then to Tana. As for charter flights, it’s always a bit hypothetical, especially since they’re often booked up by travel agencies.

Thanks for your reply. We're leaving from Lyon airport, which is why Rome and Milan were perfect for us. Otherwise, we’d have to go through Paris. I also checked out Turkish Airlines... but all the other options take way longer in terms of travel time.

But all the other options are much longer in terms of travel time.

How are you planning to do Saint-Étienne / Milan? Saint-Étienne to Lyon by car and Lyon / Milan by plane?

Very attractive but how reliable is it, especially in terms of punctuality, particularly for evening flights?

Flight delays aren’t too much of a hassle; the most annoying thing is cancellations🤪

We're planning to drive to Lyon Saint-Exupéry, then take a flight to Rome to catch the connecting flight to Nosy Be with Neos. That's 1 hour to Rome and 9 hours 30 minutes to Nosy Be. It saves a lot of time on the flight journey, but I'm a bit worried about cancellations or delays on charter flights, especially since the departure from Rome to Nosy Be is at 11:50 PM... Otherwise, from Lyon, we could fly with Lufthansa and have a layover in Ethiopia, I think. It's longer but recommended and coordinated with our travel agency.

Personally, I’d go with the option from Lyon or Paris to Antananarivo, then a domestic flight to Diego to reach Nosy Be by the "road." Otherwise, if you're in a hurry, there’s the Tana/Nosy Be flight...

Thanks for your reply

Totally agree with you, especially since booking the Tana-Nosy Be flight in advance can get you some super interesting prices. For example, a Sainte Marie-Tana flight booked in April for early October: 25 € per person on a flash promo that lasted 15 days. And from Lyon, there are flights via Istanbul at good prices if booked in advance, of course.

Regarding Turkish Airlines flights, you should know that if your layover in Istanbul is overnight and longer than 10 hours—even if the airline didn’t mention it—head to the ground floor of the airport to the accommodations office. They’ll give you a voucher for a hotel room right at the airport (a pretty decent one, too!). Only dinner (which isn’t too expensive) will be at your own expense.

yes, absolutely right!! and what's more, Istanbul airport is really well designed / unlike Roissy (which I no longer feel like visiting)

Hi there, I don’t know Neos, so I can’t say anything about them.

But if you’re only planning to go to the North—Nosy Be and Diego—personally, I think it’s much better to go directly and not stop in Tana. Besides Neos, Ethiopian Airlines offers this option, and if you have to stay overnight in Addis, everything is taken care of and very simple (and included in the flight price). Other airlines do this too, as has already been mentioned.

If you go to Tana, you’ll have to deal with taxis, an overnight stay, the logistics, all the hassle of waiting, checking and retrieving luggage, security checks, etc. You’ll also have to manage the flight with Tsaradia, which has a cost (and it’s not always on promo), and handle possible cancellations or delays (though that happens less often than before, from what I’ve heard)...

With a direct flight to Nosy Be, you avoid all that back-and-forth.

In any case, for me, no hesitation!

Just looking at possible flights (without Neos) from Lyon to Nosy Be, I didn’t find anything under 1,430 €... It’s still more affordable to Tana though.

Yeah, you're right, especially since it's for next year—she might stumble on some MadaAirline deals. They have them pretty often, so it's worth keeping an eye out for domestic flights. It’s still a shame to fixate on Nosy Be, though! !

It’s possible.

But since you have to consider the whole picture—knowing where you’re starting from, your exact dates, destinations, trip duration, and whether you’re okay with layovers—it’s not easy to make a direct comparison.

I’d be surprised if there’s a huge difference in the end when you factor everything in. Personally, I doubt the savings would be worth all the logistical hassles of stopping in Tana. When I went to Nosy Be and then Diego via Tana, we had three weeks and took our time with stops along the way between Tana and the north (Majunga, among others).

But everyone does what works for them.

Booking two flights with separate tickets is asking for extra complications and significant costs.

If your Lyon-Rome flight is canceled or delayed, you’ll miss the other flight, which won’t be refunded.

You’ll then have to find—and pay for—a last-minute alternative on your own. If one even exists...

Personally, I always avoid this option.

Thanks so much for all your replies. You're absolutely right—my main concerns about Neos are the possible delays and the risk of missing connections, or even the flight to Nosy Be being canceled outright. So, I think I’ll go with the platform linked to the agency organizing my road trip there, even if the journey is longer. As for domestic flights, it’s complicated—lots of flights are being canceled, especially to San Diego... These discussions have really helped me make progress on my trip, and I’ll be ready as soon as international flights are available to get the best prices.

many flights are canceled, especially to San Diego...

Diego Suarez or Antsiranana. San Diego is in another country ;)

since the beginning of 2025, things have really improved for domestic flights—there are now 5 ATR 72s, compared to just one in 2024. All the best,