There are twenty days a year when half the alpine region wants to land at the same two or three airports. It is not a price problem: it is a place-in-the-queue problem. Here are the real dates, what happens at the airports on those days, and how far ahead you have to move to exist on the list.
You do not arrive late at the big alpine fixtures, and the flight alone is not enough. The problem is never the aircraft: it is that in the same week Kitzbühel and Davos are competing for the same crews, and that between landing and the start there are still ninety minutes by road or twenty-five by helicopter.
Critérium de la Première Neige at Val d'Isère, 12-14 December 2026; women's night slalom at Courchevel on 22 December 2026; women's World Cup at Cortina, 15-17 January 2027, two downhills and a super-G; Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel, 18-24 January 2027, with the downhill on the Streif at 11:30 on Saturday the 23rd.
Davos, 18 to 22 January 2027, the Congress Centre, over three thousand participants expected. In 2025 the Forum generated 709 additional movements at Zurich, ten per cent more; in two years the private flights tied to the event have tripled.
Sundays 7, 14 and 21 February 2027, from 10:30 to 16:30, on the Lej da San Murezzan at St Moritz. It is the 120th edition, and they are the three weekends when parking at Samedan is as gone as it is at Christmas.
From mid-December to April this is the biggest recurring event of all, and nobody calls it an event. Dozens of aircraft go up in the morning and come down in the afternoon: it is the day the slots run out, and the day that generates the most empty legs.
Four ski bags do not fit in a light jet, and finding that out on the apron is too late. Towards Méribel the helicopter declares five suitcases plus two soft bags per rotation: that number, not the seats, says how many trips you need. We ask beforehand.
Milan, Geneva, Zurich, Munich. When there is no room to be had in town, arriving and leaving the same day is the only sensible answer — and in winter you have to allow for de-icing, which is decided on the spot.
On big fixture days the alpine airports cap arrivals and limit parking. Often the aircraft cannot wait for you: it drops you off and repositions elsewhere, and you pay for that empty flight.
Twelve months, from Savoie to the Dolomites. Where the date is official we give the day; where it is a recurring window we say so. The notice shown is what it takes to find a slot and a stand, not to negotiate the price.
| Period | What happens | How far ahead to move |
|---|---|---|
| 22 November 2026 | Lifts open for the 2026-27 season at most resorts. From here on the demand exists, but the airports are still working calmly. | 1-2 weeks |
| December | On 1 December the winter regime starts at Chambéry and Annecy; from 15 December Geneva imposes PPR; mid-month Salzburg does the same. On 12-14 December there is the Critérium at Val d'Isère, on the 13th the whole Courchevel area opens, on the 22nd there is the women's night slalom. Then Christmas and New Year, with Samedan full. | 8-10 weeks |
| 18-22 January 2027 | World Economic Forum at Davos. At Zurich, without approved parking, you get 2-3 hours on the ground. In the same week, 18 to 24, the Hahnenkamm runs at Kitzbühel: aircraft and crews across the region are committed on the same days. | 8-10 weeks |
| 22-23 January 2027 | The two return days. The Forum ends on the 22nd, the Hahnenkamm on the 24th: half the alpine region leaves together, and it is the moment when the most empty legs of the year turn up. | you take what there is |
| 7, 14 and 21 February 2027 | The three White Turf Sundays on the frozen lake at St Moritz, from 10:30 to 16:30. Parking gone at Samedan on all three weekends. | 6-8 weeks |
| February | French and British school holidays, and Grenoble's peak month. The changeover Saturdays are the hardest days of the year along the whole chain: Chambéry at five arrivals an hour, Geneva with the slot already gone. | 4-6 weeks |
| March and April | The season continues but the pressure eases. Geneva's winter regime runs to the end of April, Chambéry's and Annecy's to 30 April: the PPR stays, the availability comes back. | 2-3 weeks |
| May to June | Summer regime from 1 May. Alpine empty leg volume collapses, and anyone flying finds room without a fight. This is the period to fly in, if you can choose. | 1-2 weeks |
| July and August | High mountains in summer: glacier touring, climbing, accidents at altitude. It is the second peak for the air ambulance, not for charter. On the valley-floor airports there is room. | 48-72 hours |
| September to November | The freest period of the year, and the one when empty legs cost least. Watch de-icing from November: it is a real line, decided on the spot, and it does not go into the quote. | 48-72 hours |
Every piece is provided by whoever holds the licence for it — ticketing by ticket sellers, the flight by the carrier, the car by the chauffeur operator. We line them up and tell you who answers for what. What we do not do: book restaurants, tables or experiences.
Through authorised ticket resellers. If an event is sold out we say so, we do not promise it.
Waiting at the steps, not in the car park. In winter it is also the helicopter's plan B: if the last leg does not go for weather, the car is already there.
When staying makes more sense than going home. We work that out with you too, and it is booked by whoever holds the licence to do it.
Alternate airport, alternate time, what happens if it snows on the pass or the Föhn closes Sion. Agreed beforehand, not improvised afterwards.
Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, the Aletsch glacier at cruising height. You fly with the same aircraft and the same operator as the transfer, in a window of good weather. We do not publish the durations, and the reason is simple: they depend on the machine, the altitude and the wind on the day, and a number written here would be fake.
Departure from the resort heliport or the valley-floor airport. In France, article L363-1 of the environmental code prohibits dropping off and picking up for leisure purposes in mountain areas outside aerodromes and authorised areas: you take off and land where it is permitted, not where it suits.
from Megève, Annecy or Geneva
The range seen from above, the glaciers, the ridges you cannot guess at from the valley. Chamonix has no passenger heliport: you leave from another field, and that changes the loop.
The right moment: morning, before the valley cloud builds
from the Zermatt heliport, at 1,616 metres
The LSEZ heliport is inside the village, at 1,616 metres, and closes at 23:00. No private car enters the village: anyone arriving by road stops at Täsch and takes the rail shuttle, every twenty minutes, twelve minutes' ride.
The right moment: a clear day, with the wind under control
from Valais
The longest glacier in the Alps, a World Heritage site. You fly from Valais, and the constraint is not the distance: it is the easterly Föhn, which is also the wind that closes Sion.
The right moment: stable air, which in winter is not every day
from Chambéry or the altiports
Courchevel from above, with its 537 metres of runway and 18.6% gradient that make no sense from the road. Then Méribel, Val Thorens at 2,300 metres, the cols that close in winter.
The right moment: the two hours before sunset, if the weather holds
from Samedan, the highest airport in Europe
The frozen lake where White Turf runs in February, the passes, the Engadin from above. Samedan sits at 1,707 metres and has no runway lighting: you fly by day, and in December the window closes in mid-afternoon.
The right moment: the February Sundays — but the parking is gone
as long as you like · from where it is permitted
The house you are buying. The hut where you slept the first time. The face you want to look straight at. Give us the coordinates: if it can be flown, we fly it; if it cannot, we tell you why.
All it takes is daylight and weather that allows it
These are the things people have actually asked us for. Each with its own timing, its own permissions and its own care — and in France with an article of law to respect.
The pilot slows over the point you chose, and for a minute there is nothing else. Headsets with the music you picked, and a landing where landing is permitted.
The arrival by helicopter, the couple's flight between the ceremony and the reception, moving guests up from the valley airport. In France, disembarking in a mountain area is allowed only on aerodromes and authorised areas: the meadow is not enough, and nor is the owner's permission.
Incentives for the sales team, the close of a year, a strategic client to thank. Five passengers per rotation: a day is built in shifts, and the bill is built on the shifts.
One thing we say plainly, because it is the commonest confusion: we do not book restaurants, tables or experiences. We arrange the flight, and the last leg to the door as well. What happens past the door is somebody else's trade, and we would do it worse.
The more you tell us, the more the proposal you get is yours and not a price list. We reply within 3 hours, with two or three options and open pricing.
If it's a surprise, say so: we won't put anything in writing to any other address.
For Davos, for the Hahnenkamm, for White Turf it is not about who pays more: it is about who asked first. Club members have their request filed on the first possible day of the Geneva window, and stay on the Chambéry T-10 waiting list without having to think about it.
We build the rest backwards: the landing time, the take-off time, the right airport, the last leg and the fallback plan.
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