Chambery airport. Your experiences?

Every time I have flown into or out of chambrey airport, 4 ski holidays, it always seems to delayed. 9 hours going out (having our evening meal at 1.30 am wasn't fun) and 6 hours coming back last time.
I know its position in the mountains means it is more prone to weather/flight delays. We avoided it last year but the 4 hour transfer wasnt pleasant either :(
Has anybody ever been on time going through here? Maybe I was just extremely unlucky :(

I've been through once or twice and its been OK but your experiences illustrate why I now drive out

Been through a few times and delays are pretty common, but the biggest issue used to be that the terminal was really inadequate for the number of people / flights going through on a Saturday. So even if the planes were arriving on schedule, turnaround times were always slipping - and if the airport opened late due to weather then the (stacked up) inbound planes arrived in quick succession and it was chaos on the carousels (if they let you off the plane)...

That said, they've spent a lot of money upgrading just about everything (more check-in desks, more space, etc.) in the past year or two so it should now be much better than it was.

The flip-side, of course, is that when it's all working you're out of the airport in double-quick time and onto good - usually quiet - roads with a whole bunch of ski resorts within an easy hour and a half... 8)

A lot depends on which resort you're heading for and how lucky you feel!

I do hope its quick as I have beer to drink at destination. I am transiting through there mid Jan from a TO new route from Exeter. :)

I've never had a good experience when using Chambery, weather has always played its part and I've spent many an hour there. The problem is the terminal just cannot cope with lots of delayed flights. Try to use Geneva these days as the weather is much more stable there.

Quite a long time since I have gone through Chambery - I have had quite good experiences but also bad ones. It is a small regional airport that receives the vast bulk of its annual throughput over about a dozen Saturdays in the winter season - nearly all charters. Even when running without delays, it can struggle with the Saturday hordes. However, if there is any delays then it really downhill fast - but not in a good skiing way :oops:.

Because of its location - pretty high up and located beside a lake, it does suffer more weather issues that most airports with fog often causing problems. On top of this, air traffic control gives very low priority to charter flights so if you miss your slot for any reason, it can be a very long wait for another one :twisted:.

To add to this delightful mixture, you also have the inflexibility of French labour laws which will often see restaurants and shops closing at their set times even if the airport is jammed :shock:.

It is a bit closer to the mountains than Lyon or Geneva but I reckon the extra half hour or so driving time is well worth it for greater certainty :thumbup: .

It's small so can get rammed at peak times in the ski season.
Also, because of it's location can easily be affected by fog or other adverse weather.

I found it a dismal experience, having been dropped off by the tour operator seven hours before scheduled take-off. Few facilities and bars/restaurants closing for no apparent reason. That was before the much-heralded improvements but never been tempted to go through there again.