Buses to and from Lille Airport (LIL)

Lille Airport is located approximately 7km, or 4 miles south-southeast of Lille city centre, and is a very important gateway for the Lille Métropole area. It is also quite a large airport, handling over a million passengers per annum, and is an extremely well organised and efficient establishment. For punctuality, the airport is ranked as fourth out of the top fifteen French airports. This French airport is the twelfth busiest in the country, and is served by several airline companies, which fly to local and international destinations. Lille buses provide transport to and from the airport, and are a convenient way to travel. The bus services are inexpensive as well.

Lille-Lesquin Airport, is strategically located just outside of the city of Lille, and its close proximity to the Belgium borders provide it with a unique location. It is surrounded by a dense network of important roads as well, leading to all parts of the country, including the capital city of Paris to the south. The airport is also well connected to the train services of the country, although it has no railway station on its grounds. However, the Lille buses are available for the transport of arriving passengers, and they travel into the nearby city, to the train stations. By bus is a very popular way to reach a following destination from an airport location, as they are inexpensive, and usually provide valuable connections with the inner city. Buses are also available for departing passengers, in order for them to arrive in good time for their flight. Taking a bus will be much more cost effective than parking a private vehicle at the airport for a few days.

Lille Buses

The airport consists of a single terminal building for all domestic and international arrivals and departures, but has another two terminal buildings for private and business aviation and freight transport as well. The main passenger terminal is well equipped with a variety of facilities, and is fully accessible for disabled passengers. For passengers in need of transport, the shuttle bus stops are found opposite the arrivals hall, and there are approximately twenty buses per day, operating between the hours of 05:30 and 22:15, Mondays to Fridays. The first and last buses depart at the times mentioned and in between, there are buses available approximately every hour.

The Lille Airport buses travel into the city of Lille, and stop at a bus station which is located between the two main railway stations of the city. These stations are known as the Lille-Flandres and the Lille-Europe stations. The Lille-Flandres is the main railway station of the city, however, from both stations, passengers will find a variety of trains available, travelling to various destinations within the country. For example, TGV trains travel to Paris, and Eurostar takes passengers to London in an hour and twenty minutes. Brussels is also only just over half an hour away by the Thalys trains. The stations are within a few minutes walk from one another, and Lille-Europe is also joined to Euralille, one of France’s largest business districts.

The Lille Airport coach service provides valuable transport for passengers departing from the airport, and this bus leaves from the front of the main entrance of the Euralille shopping centre. The bus stop is marked as the ‘Liaison Aéroport’. The first bus to depart for the airport is at 05:00, and the last at 22:00. Eighteen buses are available throughout the day, and leave approximately every hour, Monday to Friday. Buses can be used over the weekends as well, and they are scheduled in accordance to the flights of the airport. The duration of the journey either to or from the airport is about twenty minutes.

The city of Lille boasts an excellent transport network, of buses, trams and metro trains. The local transport company of Lille is Transpole, and there are approximately 45km of metro lines (underground train network), two tramway lines linking to Tourcoing and Roubaix and 68 urban bus routes. Eight of the buses also run to locations in Belgium. There are sixty stations on the metro line, and thirty-five along the tramway lines. A new Lille bus service is the La Citadine, which travels a circular route and links the Champ de Mars, Norexpo, the Porte de Valenciennes car parks, the train stations and the République-Beaux Arts metro station. This bus runs from Mondays to Saturdays, every seven to thirteen minutes, and is available between the hours of 07:00 and 20:00. Single tickets or booklets of ten tickets can be purchased for travel on the bus network, from vending machines, from one of 260 service points or at the sales information kiosks. All bus tickets must be validated (stamped) in the machines upon boarding the bus. Passengers caught without a valid ticket may be issued a fine.

All further details regarding Lille bus services are available online, at the bus company’s website, http://www.transpole.fr, or from the general information desk in the airport terminal.