Travel France-UK: New Grenoble-Luton route and more Eurostar trains

[Article updated on September 3]

Some travel providers have announced additional services between the UK and France this autumn/winter season. We take a look at the flights, trains and ferry crossings on offer for travellers between the two countries.

Ryanair

Low-cost airline Ryanair has announced a new Luton to Grenoble route, as chief executive Michael O’Leary predicts a “very strong recovery” from the Covid-19 pandemic.

News of Ryanair’s 14 additional winter routes – which include flights from Stansted to Helsinki, Stockholm and Zagreb – was published yesterday (August 31).

Flights to Grenoble will be available once a week from December until March.

Ryanair is forecasting passenger numbers of 10.5 million per month over the next three months, bringing it back to pre-pandemic levels.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary told the BBC that this predicted “very strong recovery” would also see a rise in ticket prices, although he added that they were not expected to “go back to pre-Covid levels until the summer of 2022.”

Over the autumn/winter season, Ryanair will offer flights including:

• Liverpool to Paris
• Manchester to Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes, Marseille, Limoges, Béziers and Carcassonne
• London Luton to Béziers
• London Stansted to Bordeaux, Nantes, Tours Loire Valley, Toulouse, Biarritz, Poitiers, Marseille, Béziers, Nice, Grenoble, Limoges, Bergerac
• East Midlands to Limoges
• Edinburgh to Nantes, Toulouse and Marseille
• Bristol to Grenoble

EasyJet

EasyJet will be offering flights from Liverpool, Bristol, Belfast Edinburgh and London airports to Grenoble from December

Other autumn/winter routes include:

• Manchester to Lyon and Paris
• London Gatwick or Luton to Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice, Paris and Toulouse
• Edinburgh to Lyon and Paris
• Belfast to Lyon and Paris
• Bristol to Bordeaux (until the end of October), Lyon, Nice, Paris and Toulouse
• Glasgow to Paris

British Airways

Over the autumn and winter seasons, British airways will be offering flights from:

• London Heathrow to Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris and Toulouse

Although Chambery is listed as a destination on the British Airways website, there do not appear to be any flights available this autumn or winter.

Jet2

Jet2’s autumn/winter 2021-22 routes include:

• Bristol to Grenoble and Chambery
• Leeds Bradford to Chambery and Paris
• London Stansted to Chambery and Grenoble
• Manchester to Chambery, Grenoble and Lyon
• Newcastle to Grenoble

Air France

Air France is opening six new routes this autumn/winter season, but none of them involve UK destinations.

Its existing winter schedule routes include:

• Edinburgh to Paris
• Manchester to Paris
• London Heathrow to Paris

Eurostar

Eurostar has also announced that due to “increased customer demand,” it will be adding extra trains to its September and October timetables.

Between September 6 and November 1, there will be up to five return trains running between London and Paris each day, compared to two or three this time last year.

Eurostar has not yet announced whether it will be reinstating its Ski Train service this winter, after it was cancelled in 2020.

Brittany Ferries

Brittany Ferries has reduced its autumn Plymouth to Roscoff offering from approximately six to two, as it moves its Armorique ship onto the Portsmouth to St Malo route.

“We are still offering a normal service on our routes from Portsmouth to St Malo and Caen, and from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Spain,” as well as the reduced service from Plymouth to Roscoff and to Cherbourg, a Brittany Ferries spokesperson said.

P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries is offering around 15 to 20 Dover to Calais crossings every day until the end of January 2022, after which it has not released its timetable.

DFDS Ferries

DFDS offers ferry crossings between Dover and Dunkirk, Dover and Calais and Newhaven and Dieppe throughout the winter.

Irish Ferries

Irish Ferries offers crossings between Dublin and Cherbourg and Dover and Calais.

There are several daily crossings between Dover and Calais until the end of 2021, after which time the timetable has not been provided. However, between Dublin and Cherbourg sailings become less regular in November and then stop completely until December 31.

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