Low-Cost Budget Airlines Flying to Genève Cointrin Aéroport / Ski Resorts
Geneva Airport (GVA) is used by low-cost budget airlines for cheap flights from the UK, Europe, and the USA with easy connections to Swiss and French Alpine ski resorts.
Geneva Airport (Genève-Cointrin Aéroport) straddles the Swiss-French border just minutes from downtown Geneva. In recent years, Geneva Airport seems to have bucked the trend and showed increased numbers in flights and passengers. Many low-cost airlines fly here and Geneva Airport (GVA) is an important base of budget airline Ryanair as well as local airline Baboo. Most flights to Geneva are from European destinations but many cities further afield in the Middle East and even the USA (Washington and New York) also have direct flights.
Many flights to Geneva Airport (GVA) are seasonal with a huge increase in the number of flights and destinations served during the winter ski season. Geneva Airport is convenient for travelers to many Swiss ski resorts while it is often also more convenient for winter sport resorts in France than local French airports.
Cheap Flights to Geneva Airport (GVA) on EasyJet
Low-cost airline easyJet is the largest operator at Geneva Airport (GVA). EasyJet uses Geneva as a major base and this famous orange-colored budget airline flies from here as both EasyJet (UK) and EasyJet (Switzerland) – for most passengers this difference is of no real importance.
[Like other airlines flying to Geneva, EasyJet has more flights during the winter months. EasyJet often has very good deals and offers but during especially the ski season it is cheapest to fly during the week rather than on weekends. Many flights are seasonal only.
EasyJet flies from Geneva Airport (GVA) to Ajaccio [seasonal], Alicante, Amsterdam, Asturias, Barcelona, Bastia, Belfast-International [seasonal], Berlin-Schönefeld, Birmingham [seasonal], Bordeaux, Bournemouth [seasonal], Bristol, Brussels, Budapest, Cagliari [seasonal], Dubrovnik, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow-International [seasonal], Ibiza [seasonal], Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lisbon, Liverpool, London-Gatwick, London-Luton, London-Stansted [seasonal], Madrid, Malaga, Manchester, Marrakech, Nantes, Naples [seasonal], Newcastle [seasonal], Nice, Olbia [seasonal], Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Orly, Porto, Rome-Ciampino, Split [seasonal], and Stockholm-Arlanda.
Cheap Flights to Geneva Airport (GVA) on Flybaboo
Flybaboo is a Geneva-based regional airline. Although Flybaboo focuses more on the business traveler, it often has special deals and cheap flights from Geneva Airport to European destinations. Flybaboo uses mostly smaller Bombardier and Embraer aircraft and currently flies from Geneva Airport (GVA) to Athens, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Bucharest-Otopeni, Florence, Ibiza, Lugano, Naples, Nice, Pristina, Rome-Fiumicino, Saint Tropez, Toulouse, Valencia, Venice-Marco Polo, and Vienna.
Cheap Flights to Geneva Airport (GVA) on Swiss International and Lufthansa
Swiss International is a subsidiary of Lufthansa and uses Geneva Airport as a much smaller base than its main hub at Zurich Airport. Swiss, or its subsidiaries, currently flies direct from Geneva Airport (GVA) to Athens, Barcelona, Bucharest-Otopeni, Istanbul-Atatürk, London-City, Malaga, Manchester, Moscow-Domodedovo, New York-JFK, Prague, Valencia, and Zurich.
German airline Lufthansa, or its regional subsidiaries, have flights from Geneva Airport to Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich.
Air France Flights to Geneva Airport (GVA)
Switzerland and France have been using Geneva Airport (GVA) jointly for many decades with parts of the airport in each country. Since Switzerland joined the Schengen Agreement, immigration controls have been unified but separate customs controls still remain. Air France thus offers a few French domestic flights to Geneva Airport.
The trend seems to be downwards but it is still possible to fly on Air France, or one of its subsidiaries, from Geneva to Ajaccio, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Calvi, Clermont-Ferrand, Nantes, Nice, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and Toulouse. The list seems to get shorter every season.
Cheap Flights to Geneva Airport (GVA) on Budget Airlines
Many low-cost airlines have cheap flights to Geneva Airport from many European cities. British travelers are traditionally well served with many airlines and departure airports although that may change in the next winter sport season if the pound remains weak.
Low-cost airlines, in addition to EasyJet, usually flying from the British Isles to Geneva Airport include:
- bmibaby (Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands, Manchester)
- Flybe (Exeter, Isle of Man, Jersey, Newquay, Norwich, Southampton)
- Flyglobespan (Edinburgh)
- Jet2.com (Leeds/Bradford, London-Stansted)
- Thomsonfly (Doncaster-Sheffield)
Low-cost airlines flying to Geneva Airport (GVA) from other European cities include:
- Aer Lingus (Cork & Dublin)
- airBaltic (Riga)
- Brussels Airlines (Brussels)
- Iceland Express (Reykjavík-Keflavík)
- Luxair (Luxembourg)
- Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo-Gardermoen)
- Sterling Airlines (Copenhagen)
- Transavia (Rotterdam)
- Viking Airlines (London-Gatwick, Manchester)
Direct Flights to Geneva Airport (GVA) from the Middle East & Africa
A large number of destinations in the Middle East and Northern Africa are served by various airlines flying from Geneva Airport (GVA). A further huge number of charter flights are available to Mediterranean holiday vacation areas too.
Airlines and destinations flying from Geneva Airport (GVA) to the Middle East and Africa include:
- Afriqiyah Airways (Tripoli)
- Air Algérie (Algiers, Constantine, Oran)
- Air Malta (Catania, Luqa)
- Air Mauritius (Port Louis)
- EgyptAir (Cairo, Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh)
- El Al Israel Airlines (Tel Aviv)
- Edelweiss Air (Hurghada, Kos, Las Palmas, Priština, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife)
- Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
- Iran Air (Tehran-Imam Khomeini)
- Kuwait Airways (Kuwait)
- Middle East Airlines (Beirut)
- Qatar Airways (Doha, Newark)
- Royal Air Maroc (Casablanca)
- Royal Jordanian (Amman)
- Saudi Arabian Airlines (Jeddah, Manchester, Riyadh)
- Tunisair (Djerba, Monastir, Tunis)
- Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)
Intercontinental Flights from Geneva Airport to the USA & Canada
Travelers from Northern America have a limited number of direct flights to Geneva Airport – transfers at various European hubs including Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, and Amsterdam are more common.
Direct flights from Geneva Airport (GVA) to the USA currently include SWISS International flying to New York-JFK, Continental Airlines flying to Newark, and United Airlines flying to Washington-Dulles. Air Canada has seasonal flights from Montreal-Trudeau.
Many further flights are available from Geneva Airport to other European cities. These flights are often aimed at the business traveler but most European airlines have great discounts available at quiet times. Although these short flights are often pricey, the cost may be negligible if the flights is reserved as part of a longer intercontinental journey via the main hub of a large airline.
Public transportation to Geneva Airport is very simple and cheap with buses running to most parts of Geneva, trains running to all of Switzerland, and direct shuttle buses taking skiers to resorts in France.
