Beauvais Airport
Beauvais airport is located in Tille, about 3.5 kilometers from the city of Beauvais. This French airport handles nearly 4 million passengers per annum and it is a hub of low cost airlines in France which include Ryanair, BlueAir and Wizzair. The airport has ample facilities which include two terminals, snack bars and restaurants and various shopping areas located both in the publicly and airside. A baggage carousel, helpdesk and telephone are also available at the terminals in addition to baby change facilities and toilets. The airport is also accessible for use by disabled persons on wheelchair.
Originally, Beauvais airport used to be a small regional airport that served Beauvais city. Despite the fact that the airport’s official name is Aeroport de Beauvais- Tille, and located 85 km north of Paris which is actually 3 times further away than the Paris- Charles de Gaulle Airport, the airport is advertised as the Paris- Beauvais by low cost airlines operating in it. The IATA code of the airport is BVA and has more than 20 flights scheduled regularly on a daily basis. There are also many more daily flights served by the airport through charters which makes it an alternative for budget travelers to the Orly or Charles de Gaulle.
Beauvais airport is commonly billed as ‘the low cost airport’ and it is very popular among budget travelers thanks to the low cost airlines serving in it. It offers many flight connections to and from various European capitals such as Dublin, Budapest, Barcelona, Stockholm and Rome alongside other destinations. There is a direct bus service from and to Paris from Porte Maillot. Beauvais airport is sufficiently equipped to conveniently handle the medium- sized air jets. However, night flying at the airport has been banned since 2007 and this is enforced strictly to benefit the local residents. Both terminals remain closed from 23:30 to 06:30 in the morning.
The main runway at Beauvais airport 12/ 30, features a specialized instrument landing system that facilitates landing of planes at the airport in times of a bad weather when the visibility is below 200 meters. The airport has reliable public transport connections. There is a shuttle that services the airport and offers transportation to the railway station and city center, operating eight times in a day. Beauvais airport has no airport lounges but free Airport WiFi/ internet is available. There are good and cheap hotels available near the airport such as Ibis Beauvais Aeroport, Inter- Hotel City and Mercure Beauvais.
Beauvais airport is quite small and only has 3 airlines, all which are low cost airlines and 1 runway. But seriously, this airport has everything that you need ranging from the tax free shops, a restaurant and of course the check in counters. Yes, this airport could be a tent or more like a warehouse but you are assured of getting pretty cheap tickets. Terminal 2 is better than terminal 1 and it looks more modern even though the airport as a whole has nothing spectacular as such.
Once you are out of Beauvais airport, you will find buses, taxis that take to Paris city and the transport services are incredibly good. The airport’s baggage claim hall could definitely do much better with some more space as it not adequately big to serve the 180 passengers alighting from the flight. But being a low cost airport, you really must understand and get comfortable with the small space. It’s true that the airport can be far away from Paris City center but when you just 1 euro for flight with Ryanair or Wizzair, you have no option than to agree with it.