Perpignan and Carcassonne airports.

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neil mitchell
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Post by neil mitchell »

It's a shame because I used to like coming to Perpignan airport. It was a little scruffy and quirky but it worked for the 2 or 3 flights a day which it handled.

The refurbishment work hasn't helped but the real problem is never really knowing what Ryanair will do next plus the flight from Stansted is so early that it involves a stay in the Premier Inn.

EasyJet run Gatwick/Montpellier year round and don't ever seem to change. The flights are in the middle of the day which means no overnights and I can get door to door easily in a day. The flight are cheap and the 1 Euro train from Montpellier to Perpignan and on to Vernet Les Bains is the icing on the cake.

I am still a very strong supporter of O'Leary but I'm afraid Stellios is currently offering a much better deal.
interiors66
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Post by interiors66 »

redneckrover wrote:I agree absolutely ! I cannot understand why a relatively small job should take so long, I would really appreciate an explanation. !!
The way I see it is this , it's undergoing a major refurbishment whilst staying fully operational, that alone would increase the program more than treble.
Personally I think they are doing amazingly well as the only inconvenience I have had to to use a porta cabin for a toilet!
I would imagine that a stipulation to the works is not to make noise , have deliveries, not park works vehicles close by and keep everything spotlessly clean whilst 500-1000 people pass through on a daily basis.
I say well done Perpignan keep up the good work !
rogb
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Post by rogb »

I have had a letter dated 25 September from the Director of Perpignan Airport, Denis Leluc, seemingly aimed at people on their database for long- term parking, saying that the work to upgrade the car park started in September and will end in June 2016. Next Summer is given as the 'fin des-travaux' generally.
dimidu66
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Post by dimidu66 »

Hi BT, there are currently some works on the parking but it's still operational and there won't be any problem if your friends want to park their car.

As rogb mentioned, all the works will be achieved by end of June 2016 and I hope that the bad comments will be quickly refuted when you will have the possibility to enjoy all our spaces currently under construction, especially our lovely lounge to come…

We sincerely apologize for all the inconveniences you have had and we encourage you to keep us informed of any problem you might encounter.
For the early departures from London Stansted with Ryanair, we are going to ask several changes for Summer 2016, especially on thursdays & saturdays (all months) + wednesdays & sundays (in August) for later departures from 8:00am minimum which would already be more suitable.I will keep you informed if some changes are possible.
dimidu66
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Post by dimidu66 »

Ryanair will close the Carcassonne-Liverpool service on March, 26th 2016. The route will be replaced by a new Carcassonne-Manchester service operated each Monday & Friday from April, 1st 2016.
Smiley G
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First visit to Carcassonne Airport

Post by Smiley G »

We dropped a relative off at Carcassonne today to catch the Stansted flight at 17:45.
What a lovely airport! Come on Perpignan, you need to put your skates on and complete all works by Spring 2016. You've got no U.K. Ryanair flights now until March and based on our recent use of Perpignan, you seriously need to consider the provisions for Airside Departures................;
1 Toilets
2 A coffee bar etc.
Our flight was delayed by 30 minutes on 27th October and we've never seen so many people use the aircraft loos and purchase in-flight refreshments, once we had taken off.
One other point Perpignan, when a flight is delayed and the weather is bad, DON'T expect to make passengers happy by making them wait outside on the tarmac for an unacceptable amount of time.
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Ariègeoise
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Post by Ariègeoise »

Smiley, you clearly didn't use Carcassonne airport during the (many) years it was under renovation, or before. There were NO seats at all landside, and only enough for a handful of passengers airside. Coffee was only available in the restaurant-bar landside, and if it was lunchtime you had to stand unless you were eating as all the seats were reserved for diners. No refreshments airside. There was nowhere to buy a newspaper. It was chaotic, unpleasant, dusty, and the staff were stressed out by the whole thing so were often short with passengers.

I haven't flown from there for ages and I'm delighted to hear that it's improved. But please, give the guys at Perpignan airport a break - a refurb isn't an instant thing (I know - I lived and worked in one for 4 years!), especially when services and daily life have to be kept going alongside it all. Can we really not understand that it's still A Work In Progress and show a bit of patience?
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opas
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Re: First visit to Carcassonne Airport

Post by opas »

Smiley G wrote: Our flight was delayed by 30 minutes on 27th October and we've never seen so many people use the aircraft loos and purchase in-flight refreshments, once we had taken off.
One other point Perpignan, when a flight is delayed and the weather is bad, DON'T expect to make passengers happy by making them wait outside on the tarmac for an unacceptable amount of time.
About 4 years ago I used the Carcassonneroute on a regular basis to visit my late dad. You moan about standing on the Tarmac there, one flight iI landed at Liverpool( along with about 4 other fights) we queued airside in the pelting rain in freezing temps for about an hour to get in to passport control.....that is a major airport. Give Perpignan a break, Rome was not built in a day, its been a long time coming but I have faith, who remembers Girona airport about 10 years ago!!!
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Libby
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Perpignan & Carcassonne airport

Post by Libby »

I am sorry that Ryanair are not flying into Perpignan this winter.
The drive to Carcassonne and back, twice for collection and delivery, costs about 110€.
It's fine for the flyer as they get a cheap flight!!!
My sister is trying the navette then train to Perpignan this December which, I've been assured, is a doddle.
Perpignan would have been much better all round.
I agree with the comment(s) about giving Perpignan a chance to get finished.
dimidu66
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Post by dimidu66 »

Flybe will resume its Southampton-Perpignan service from May, 28th to September, 10th with one weekly flight (Sat)
Libby
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Perpignan airport

Post by Libby »

Thanks but Southampton isn't much good to my 'lot'. Stansted and Birmingham are those used.
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Post by mammadee »

i see the biggest problem with Perpignan airport is the lack of public transport links. The number 7 bus is a good service but would be improved if the Pepignan terminus was at the bus depot so that it could link up with bus routes to the rest of the region. Also ,a train station serving the airport does not seem out of the question as the railway line runs almost alongside. For me, easier access would be an added insentive to fly to the area
neil mitchell
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Post by neil mitchell »

Sometimes just the simplest thing can make a huge improvement. If the No7 bus just went up to the station entrance it would make a huge difference. Plus a few signs directing people through the underpass to the Gare Routiere. A very small thing but seemingly impossible.
dimidu66
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Post by dimidu66 »

Dear All,

Carcassonne Airport will welcome a new airline on December, 20th 2015 : Atlas Atlantique Airlines. The new french carrier will serve Oran in Algeria with one weekly frequency on Sundays during winter and up to 2 weekly flights in summer.

Perpignan Airport will welcome a new seasonal service to Corsica with Chalair Aviation. The airline will launch a weekly flight to Bastia on Saturdays from May, 14th to September, 24th 2016 and will resume the service to Ajaccio on the same dates.

Ryanair will add a 3rd weekly flight on Carcassonne-Manchester service in August 2016 each Wednesday.
BT
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Refit photos

Post by BT »

Dimitu,

I viewed the new batch of photos on FaceBook, the retail area looks very well. Why no photos of the seating area etc?

I have booked a short break for early May, looking forward to seeing the almost finished project. I hope the WiFi will be connected.

Regards

BT
Smiley G
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Post by Smiley G »

Interested to read the latest post from BT about the pictures of the airport on FaceBook. Sadly, we can't see the information as, for many reasons, we do not use FB.
Is there a reason why the airport updates cannot be carried on this new web site or indeed on this Forum so we can all keep up to speed?
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Sue
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Airport

Post by Sue »

If you message me your email address I will message you with the picture of airport. Sorry not a clue how you get it onto the forum. :(
Dylan
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Kate
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Post by Kate »

I'm sure there must be some way of posting/linking FB onto the forum. Will look into it. Last Threads will be back on the homepage of the site over the next few weeks so should hopefully encourage more people to post these things back on the forum too.
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Helen
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Link to Perpignan Airport photos

Post by Helen »

It's possible you can see the photos via this link - it's to the photos which were posted on Perpignan Airport's Facebook page. It's not a closed group so it should be accessible even if you don't have a Facebook account

https://www.facebook.com/AeroportPerpig ... =3&theater
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Sue
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Post by Sue »

Helen you are a star. How did you manage that.
Dylan
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Helen
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Post by Helen »

Not really a star, Sue...I wish!

I just decided to see if I could copy the link of the photo album which had been posted on the Aeroport Sud de France FB page, and discovered I could.

Then I checked it in a private browsing window where it seemed to work without any FB log-in so thought it was worth posting the link here.
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Sue
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Post by Sue »

Thank you and you are a star.
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dimidu66
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Post by dimidu66 »

Hi BT,

Yes! The new departures & arrivals terminal will be normally in service when you arrive.

Flybe has added extra flights in August 2016 on Tue/Sun from 9-AUG-16 to 28-AUG-16. The flights on Saturdays are operated from 28-MAY-16 to10-SEP-16.
BT
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Perpignan Airport

Post by BT »

Hi Dimidu,

Thanks for the reassuring update. I will be reporting back to the forum following my visit. I hope that your colleagues will remember to smile!

Regards

BT
dimidu66
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Post by dimidu66 »

Hi BT,

Sure, don't hesitate to give us your feedback on the forum after your visit!

Yes, their new work environment should help them to smile ;-) We have launched a few months ago an internal training proposed by Transdev called "Objectif Client" in order to train our staff to solve any problem type and placing the customer at the center of our attention, which includes obviously all rules of politeness that should be used in any case.

Best regards,
Dimitri
rogb
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Post by rogb »

We travelled to the P-O via the redeveloped Carcassonne airport today (though parking there is still being refurbished). We were a bit surprised to find that the passport-check queue was almost entirely located on the tarmac outside, with only space for about 20 passengers under cover inside the terminal. The wait on the tarmac wasn't much fun today in a cold wind. Is this situation intended to punish non-Schengen (UK), flight passengers? Surely not when the majority of flights into Carcassonne are from the UK.

Is the passport queue situation any better at the 'new' Perpignan airport?

Beziers airport manages to get more passengers under cover - but not all.
dimidu66
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Post by dimidu66 »

Hi rogb, thanks for your feedback and sorry for the inconvenience caused by the passport-check queue. We are conscious of this problem especially in Winter, and several solutions are being investigated. But there are currently renovation works, and we will certainly reorganize some areas of the airport.

For Perpignan, the problem is a bit different (still because of renovation works) as workers are currently working in the future arrival terminal, so we had to use Portakabins for the passengers, but people who are waiting for their friends, family... have to wait outside. Fortunately, the renovation works, once achieved, will make you quickly forget the inconvenience ;-)
tia
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Perpignan Ryanair flights

Post by tia »

I have just been looking to book a weekend flight from Perpignan. As usual is impossible as no Friday or Monday flight and the Saturday to Sunday would allow less than 24 hours sight seeing in London so looked Saturday to Tuesday . Nearly fainted at the price for 1 child and 1 adult 388 euros !! And that is before booking fees, luggage. So much for Ryanair being a low cost airline. The dates I looked at were not even in the school holidays so I dread to think what they are charging in July and august.
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Re: Perpignan Ryanair flights

Post by martyn94 »

tia wrote:The dates I looked at were not even in the school holidays so I dread to think what they are charging in July and august.
A bit cheaper for a randomly chosen sat and tue in July. They don't have to give it away to be cheaper than anyone else flying the route.
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Post by montgolfiere »

Just booked 1X adult and 1 X child towards the end of April, Carca - East Midlands Return for 198 euros including around 15 euros for chosing the seats and thus being able to check in 28 days in advance. BTW There was no Booking Charge.
so around £60 return each... a pretty good deal really.....
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