Courchevel Altiport

Courchevel Altiport Altiport de Courchevel
IATA: CVF ICAO: LFLJ
Summary
Airport type	Public
Serves	Courchevel
Location	Courchevel
Opened	1962
Elevation AMSL	2,008 m / 6,588 ft
Coordinates	45°23′51″N 06°38′04″E
Map
CVF/LFLJ Location in Savoie CVF/LFLJ CVF/LFLJ (France)
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 04/22 537 1,762 Asphalt

Courchevel Altiport (French: Altiport de Courchevel) (IATA: CVF, ICAO: LFLJ) is an altiport serving Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps. The airfield has a very short runway of only 537 metres (1,762 ft) with a gradient of 18.6%. There is no go-around procedure for landings at Courchevel due to the surrounding mountainous terrain. The airfield primarily sees use by smaller fixed-wing aircraft such as the Cessna 208 Caravan, as well as helicopters. The runway has no instrument approach procedure or lighting aids, making landing in fog or low clouds unsafe and almost impossible.

The airport is considered dangerous, as it features a difficult approach, an upward-sloping runway and ski runs in the adjacent area. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports ranks it as the seventh most extreme airport in the world.

Commercial service

In the early 1970s, Air Alpes had regular flights between Paris Orly and Courchevel using a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 (Twin Otter) during the ski season. In case of bad weather, the aircraft landed in Chambery and the passengers were bused to Courchevel. In the 1980s, Tyrolean Airways served Courchevel using Dash-7 STOL aircraft capable of carrying 54 passengers. More recently, De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters and DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprops have served the airport.

According to their website, Alpine Airlines is currently the only company worldwide to offer commercial flights to Courchevel Altiport.

Tour de France

The Altiport has been used as the finish line of Tour de France stages on numerous occasions, given its steep gradient and location close to the ski resort of Courchevel.

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