La Rochelle Airport (LRH)

La Rochelle Airport is a small public establishment found approximately 2.5km northwest of the city centre, and is also well known as the Laleu Airport. The air gateway serves the city of La Rochelle, the island of Ile de Ré and a couple of other surrounding areas of the Charente-Maritime department of France. The airport is allocated the unique IATA code of LRH, and its ICAO code is listed as LFBH. It is small, handling only around 200,000 passengers per annum, but is nonetheless well equipped for the needs of its passengers, and is considered to be an important gateway for this region of France.

La Rochelle Airport is located in western France, and the city of the same name is one of those along the Bay of Biscay. It is best known for its ‘Vieux Port’, or Old Harbour, found at the heart of the city, and which is lined with many wonderful seafood restaurants. Boating trips are enjoyed from the harbour as well. The city also boasts a very well-preserved old town area, a large aquarium and a beautiful botanical garden, know as the Jardin des plantes de La Rochelle. The city is connected to Ile de Ré by a bridge with the road of the D735. The D735 is linked to the N237, which is the main access road of the airport. From the city, there are many roads which lead to the N237, for easy access to the terminal. Some areas particularly nearby the destination include Les Portes Océanes, Lagord, L’Houmeau and Nieul-sur-Mer, a little further to the north. In the country of France, the city can be described as to the south of Nantes, Cholet and La Roche-sur-Yon, to the south-west of Tours, Poitiers and Niort, and to the north of Bordeaux.

Although a small airport, flights from La Rochelle head for several international destinations, as well as a couple of other locations. The local flights are available year-round, but the international flights are mainly seasonal, however, Ryanair does fly to London-Stansted throughout the year, and Flybe offers flights to Southampton on a more regular basis as well. These two airline companies also fly to Manchester, Brussels South-Charleroi, Dublin and Porto, in Portugal. The route from the airport to Porto is new, having only been introduced by Ryanair in 2011. The domestic flights are handled by Air France (operated by Airlinair) to Lyon, and by Airlinair (operated by Chalair Aviation) to Paris-Orly, while EasyJet and Jet2.com have flights to Bristol, London-Gatwick, Edinburgh and Leeds-Bradford.

La Rochelle Airport is the largest in the region, before Poitiers, and the city is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. LRH is also considered to have one of the highest evolutions in traffic in the country, and its number of passengers is expected to double by 2015. From 2002 to 2007 it had quite a phenomenal increase in traffic, starting at 91,000 passengers and ending 2007 with approximately 220,000 passengers. 2007 was also the busiest year in terms of passenger traffic. Between 2005 and 2006 the figures were up by an impressive 41.9%. 2008 and 2009 saw a decrease in passenger traffic, but the year 2010 ended with a positive increase of 13.4%, and 191,599 passengers. Traffic at the airport will certainly be on the rise over the next few years.

The airport of La Rochelle dates back to 1936, when it was decided to be built in Laleu, by the State, the town of La Rochelle and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. By 1939 the site was open, and a taxi airline after World War II began taking passengers to Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon. A better runway with improved lighting and the VHF direction finder was in place by 1966, and the runway was once again lengthened in 1973, to a total of 1,940 metres. Work on the runway continued during the 1970’s, but it had to be completely repaired in 1989. During the years from the 1990’s onwards, the location received a new and higher control tower, and new lines were opened to Clermont-Ferrand, London, Southampton, Lyon, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Manchester, Leeds, Cork, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brussels-Charleroi, Oslo, and more recently, Porto. In 2005, the destination welcomed Ryanair’s Boeing 737-800, and in 2008, the airport had a new boarding lounge of 600 square meters and an extended car parking lot. A new restaurant and duty-free shop were opened in recent years as well.

Today, the airport has a single terminal building and single runway, of 2,255 metres in length, and is considered as a very efficient flight centre with friendly staff members. The restaurant inside the terminal is known as the ‘L ‘Escal’Express’, and offers a variety of warm meals, seafood, salads, homemade pastries and much more, and there is also a snack-bar at the departure gate with sandwiches and fresh drinks. The duty-free shop located past the Security Control point of departures is called the Aelia duty-free shop, and sells many favourable items, including cosmetics, perfumes, gifts, hand-crafted soaps and food. Additional facilities at La Rochelle Airport include a tourist and general information desk, a mail box and phone box and public toilets with adapted facilities for disabled passengers. The whole terminal building is accessible to disabled passengers as well. There are no currency exchange services available, or any full-service banking facilities.

The information desk at can provide further details regarding all services. The La Rochelle Airport contact number is +33 5 46 42 86 70.