Flights to Toulouse
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More suggestions for finding cheap flights to Toulouse
Flights to Toulouse can be divided into two very distinct groups - year-round scheduled services which are geared towards people visiting the city of Toulouse itself, and seasonal charter flights which use Toulouse as a gateway to the Pyrenees ski resorts.
No commentary about finding flights to Toulouse can be complete without mention of the huge aerospace industry in the city, and the specific tendency for certain routes to be heavily dependent on the movement of Airbus employees and associated workers between the main headquarters in Toulouse and UK factories in Bristol and Hawarden near Chester. Bristol in particular is in the curious position of having three competing flight routes to Toulouse, with OLT's specialist flights from Filton operating alongside routes from Bristol International operated by Easyjet and Flybe. The Hawarden factory also has specialist flights to Toulouse, whereas one of the BMI Regional's only international routes from Manchester operates to Toulouse.
Prices for flights to Toulouse (Price check from May 2006)
Although Easyjet operate cheap flights to Toulouse from London, their Bristol flights tend to be much more geared up towards the business user, so there is less need for them to offer heavy discounts during the week. Flybe currently only operate direct flights to Toulouse from Birmingham and Bristol - they could not sustain enough demand to maintain their flights from Southampton to Toulouse. Typical prices for midweek flights to Toulouse booked a couple of weeks in advance seem to fall into two distinct tiers - whereas flights from London, and those operated by Easyjet and Flybe can usually be found for less than £100 return, we found that the price of BMI's flights from Manchester to Toulouse regularly cost more than £150 each way.
Toulouse charter flights
During the winter ski season, there are plenty of charter flights to Toulouse from various regional airports.
Connecting flights to Toulouse
Although the obvious places to find flight connections are London and Paris, BMI Regional and Flybe also try and funnel some other Scottish passengers through their bases in Manchester and Birmingham respectively. Although there are extremely frequent shuttle flights between Paris and Toulouse, many of these operate into Orly airport, whereas most flights from the UK to Paris go to Charles de Gaulle.
Allow at least an extra hour if transferring between the two airports. Unlike Lyon or Marseille, Toulouse does not have a super-fast rail link with Paris - although TGV services do operate into southwest France, most of these routes run on conventional tracks. The journey time on the direct TGV service between Paris and Toulouse is a little over five hours.
Alternative airports
With Toulouse airport already handling a high volume of domestic shuttle flights to Paris, and the existing scheduled international flights already being well focused around the aerospace industry, there is little likelihood of more cheap flights to Toulouse being offered on a year-round basis. There are various other alternative airports in southwestern France which are much more geared up to cater for the leisure market.
Airports such as Bordeaux, Bergerac and Perpignan have attracted a good mix of budget airlines, whereas Carcassonne has been a particular focus point for Ryanair.
Mini Guide to Toulouse
Toulouse's growth is partly down to the city’s burgeoning ties with biotech and aeronautical companies. Toulouse was considered the safest location for the French aeronautical industry during World War I, being as far removed from the German border as a major city could possibly get. The industry flourished in its new home and, nowadays, the city plays host to such aviation giants as Airbus.
Still, this is far from a sheeny corporate outpost. Toulouse is known as la ville rose, not for nothing: the red brick walls of its buildings mark this destination as one of France’s key seats of learning and development. Indeed, this is the country’s second biggest university town after Paris, with three establishments of higher education including the prestigious University of Toulouse, established during the 14th century. On a somewhat less cerebral note, Toulouse is also home to one of Europe’s most renowned and successful rugby teams.
There are plenty of attractions on offer for travellers to the area. The city’s links with the aeronautical industry manifest themselves most strikingly in the Ariane 5 rocket standing at the entrance to Space City (Cité de l’Espace), a museum devoted to all things heavenly. The Musée des Augustins houses the remains of an Augustine priory, along with Romanesque and medieval sculpture. Les Abattoirs, on the other hand, lives up (or, depending on personal taste, down) to its name, engaging with the grisly, often visceral business of modern and contemporary art. Yet Toulouse is finally dominated by the building which stands at its heart: the Capitole, its city hall, dating from the 18th century. The Place de Capitole surrounding it provides a vast meeting-place for locals and tourists alike.
Toulouse Flight News
- Flybe to relaunch Toulouse flights from Birmingham this summer - 14/02/2008
- Jet2 add flights to Toulouse from Leeds Bradford - 13/10/2006
- Jet2 in major expansion at Belfast International Airport - 09/10/2006
Other flights and travel news stories:
- Bmibaby flights sale ends tomorrow - 13/10/2008
- Air France scraps LA flights from Heathrow - 13/10/2008
- New cheap flights to Kiev from London - 09/10/2008
Flights to France - Other Cities
Can't find any good value flights to Toulouse? Read our general guide about finding flights to France, or try one of the other cities in France mentioned below:
- Flights to Paris Any (PAR)
- Flights to Nice (NCE)
- Flights to Toulouse
- Flights to Bergerac (EGC)
- Flights to Bordeaux (BOD)
- Flights to Carcassonne (CCF)
- Flights to Limoges (LIG)
- Flights to Nantes (NTE)
- Flights to Perpignan (PGF)
Other useful Toulouse travel websites
- Toulouse (TLS) Airport Transfers - Find airport transfers with Transfers.net
- Toulouse Airport - Official Website
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