Megève has its own airfield. It is called Megève-Mont d'Arbois (LFHM), it is at 1,470 metres above sea level, the runway is 620 metres long, and it is exactly the kind of thing you cannot quite believe is real until you have landed on it. The runway slopes uphill at six degrees in one direction. You land uphill, you take off downhill. There is no missed approach: once you commit to the landing, you are landing. The runway ends at a forest.
When you have done it, walking from the apron to the chalet of the Domaine du Mont d'Arbois ski station takes less than three minutes on a snowy path. The chairlift is ninety seconds further. By 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning in February, you can be in the queue for Le 1920, the two-Michelin-star restaurant of the Four Seasons Megève, eight minutes after your aircraft has stopped moving.
This is the most conspicuously cinematic flight on this list. It is also the one that requires the most care from us, because the airfield is — and we are not exaggerating — one of the most demanding mountain strips in Europe to operate into.
Which Aircraft Can Land Here
The Megève altiport is rated for what mountain pilots call altisurfaces and altiports. The aircraft that can legally land here are limited to those whose pilots hold a specific French montagne qualification, plus the right aircraft type rating.
The list of practical options is short:
- Pilatus PC-12 with a mountain-rated captain (preferred — most comfortable, eight seats, excellent in cold weather)
- Cessna Caravan with skis or wheels, similarly mountain-rated (more rugged, less plush)
- Piper PA-46 / TBM with mountain rating (smaller, faster, less common at LFHM)
- Helicopter (always an option — direct from Geneva, 25 minutes, lands at the helipad next to the altiport)
We do not put people on Cirrus SR22s or Diamond DA62s into Megève in winter. The strip is unforgiving and the weather windows are tight. We use the small handful of operators in Geneva and Annecy who run mountain-rated PC-12s and Caravans for exactly this kind of flight, and we know which of their captains specifically hold the Megève endorsement.
The standard launch points are Geneva (LSGG) — 25 minutes by air, the most popular — or Lyon (LFLL) if you are coming from southern France. From London, fly Biggin Hill or Farnborough to Geneva on a Citation or Phenom, then change to the PC-12 for the leg to the mountain. We coordinate the connection.
When To Go
The Megève season runs roughly mid-December to mid-April. The sweet spot is mid-January to mid-March, when the snow is deep and the days are getting longer. Avoid the French school holidays (the Vacances Scolaires de Février, three rolling weeks across three zones, normally mid-Feb to mid-March) if you do not like being on chairlifts with eleven-year-olds. The first weekend of February before the school holidays start is, in our experience, the best Saturday of the season.
The altiport closes whenever the weather is bad. Thick cloud, low ceilings, strong cross-winds, or a fresh snowfall that has not been cleared from the runway will all close the strip for hours or sometimes days. We always have a backup: the public airport at Annecy (LFLP) is forty-five minutes by car from Megève, and Geneva is an hour. If LFHM is closed, we route you in there and your driver meets you. We carry the contingency.
The Day, As It Goes
You leave London Biggin Hill at 8.30 a.m. on a Saturday. By 10.45 you are in Geneva, you have changed aircraft, and you are climbing through a blue Alpine morning towards Mont Blanc. The PC-12 is quiet. The view to your left is Mont Blanc, and you cannot stop staring at it. The captain calls "approach" and turns onto a long final between the trees of the Aravis range.
You land at 11.15. By 11.20 you are walking off the apron carrying a soft bag.
You go straight to Le 1920, the two-Michelin-star restaurant of the Four Seasons Hôtel des Trois Vallées, in the Domaine du Mont d'Arbois complex. Lunch reservation, 12.30. Tasting menu, paired wines. You order the omble chevalier (Alpine char) with a Roussette de Savoie. The pastry chef, who you should look up in advance, is the reason you are here.
By 14.00 you are on the chairlift. Mont d'Arbois is the easier side of Megève — wide blue and red runs, treelined, gentle. If you are a stronger skier the action is on the Côte 2000 and Rochebrune sectors, accessible by free shuttle from the village. By 16.30 you are back at the chalet for a hot chocolate at the Four Seasons.
You either stay the night or, if you are doing the day version, your captain has watched the weather, called you at 16.00 to confirm the take-off slot, and you fly back to Geneva at 17.30, light gone in the valleys. London by 20.00.
Where To Stay (If You Stay)
The Four Seasons Hôtel des Trois Vallées is the obvious answer. It is also the right answer. Built into the mountain at the top of the Mont d'Arbois lift, ski-in-ski-out, two Michelin stars on site, and the spa is excellent. Around €1,400 a night for a double in February.
If you want something quieter, the Chalet du Mont d'Arbois — the original Rothschild family chalet, now a hotel — is forty rooms in a Belle Époque building five minutes from the Four Seasons. Around €900 a night. Pricing is by the night, not by the package; you pay for what you use.
We send people who want to take their own group to one of three private chalets in the Mont d'Arbois sector. All are bookable through us, all have private chefs, all sleep eight to twelve. Rates from €15,000 to €40,000 a week depending on size and season.
What To Eat
Megève takes its food seriously. The list is too long for one piece. The two essentials:
Le 1920, two stars, Mont d'Arbois, Four Seasons. Modern Alpine, refined, the chef is Julien Gatillon. The room is wood and stone and the view through the floor-to-ceiling windows is the entire valley. Reserve months ahead for weekends.
Flocons de Sel, three Michelin stars, in the village. Emmanuel Renaut's restaurant, which has held three stars since 2012 and is — for our money — the best mountain restaurant in France. They have rooms attached if you want to stay there. The €240 menu is the move; the wine pairings are exceptional.
For something less gala: La Sauvageonne for fondue and a wood fire, L'Alpette at the top of the Rochebrune lift for skier lunch with the Mont Blanc view, La Petite Ravine for tartiflette without ceremony.
The Numbers
A Saturday day-trip from London Biggin Hill to Megève and home, four passengers, on a Citation Mustang Biggin–Geneva and a PC-12 Geneva–Megève, including lunch at Le 1920, lift passes, and a guide:
- Aircraft (Citation Mustang return Biggin–Geneva): €11,200
- Aircraft (PC-12 return Geneva–Megève): €4,800
- Handling at three airfields: €560
- Lift passes (one day, four people): €280
- Mountain guide for the afternoon: €420
- Lunch at Le 1920 with paired wines: €1,420
- Driver and transfers: €280
- Sulu concierge fee: €600
- Total: €19,560
That is €4,890 per person for a single day, which is — to be honest — the most expensive trip in this series. It is also the trip that, in our experience, generates the most photographs. If you are weighing it, think of it as a Saturday at a London restaurant plus a chairlift, plus the most spectacular twenty-five-minute flight you will ever take.
The two-night version (Saturday morning out, Monday evening back, with a Sunday of skiing) brings the per-person cost down considerably because the aircraft is amortised over more usage. Two nights at the Four Seasons, three days of skiing, four people: total around €34,000, or €8,500 per person — which is roughly the price of a week in Courchevel without the helicopter pickup.
A Quick Note On Courchevel
Yes, you can do this same trip into Courchevel (LFLJ), which has a slightly more famous sloped runway and slightly better skiing. Courchevel has more luxury hotels (Les Airelles, Cheval Blanc, K2). It is a more obvious choice. The reason we send first-time clients to Megève is that the village is more atmospheric, the food is better, and Mont Blanc is a more dramatic view from altitude than the Trois Vallées. After your second trip, you can ask us to flip you to Courchevel.
Booking And Logistics
We book the altiport approach slot 48 hours ahead. We watch the weather from Wednesday onwards. We move the trip to Sunday if Saturday looks closed-out. We have a fallback (Annecy + driver) priced into every quote. We book the lunch reservation at Le 1920 at the same time as the aircraft, because they are equally hard to get on the right Saturday.
Message us on WhatsApp or Telegram. For Megève we recommend booking 4 to 6 weeks ahead in season — the operator pool is small and the Saturday slots fill up.
If a less weather-dependent winter run interests you, the alternative is Saanen for Gstaad, which has a longer runway, an easier approach, and similar Michelin density.