LFPM/Villaroche: Paris Without the Pain

If LFPB/Paris Le Bourget is proving too noisy, too crowded, or just too regulated for your liking this summer – there’s another option.

Thanks to the team at Elyxan Aviation, we’ve got the full scoop on LFPM/Paris Villaroche, a lesser-known but promising alternative for BizAv flights heading to Paris. Located about 45-50 minutes from the city center, this airport sits southeast of Paris and offers something refreshingly rare: no slots, no APU restrictions, and 24/7 availability.

Why consider LFPM?

LFPM/Paris Villaroche isn’t new – it’s a former flight test site that’s been quietly evolving into a solid business aviation option southeast of Paris. It has a similar feel to EGLF/Farnborough, and although public ownership has slowed its full development, what’s already in place is pretty impressive:

1972m x 45m runway with GNSS/LPV approach
No slots, no APU restrictions, no curfews
24/7 ops capability, with English-speaking ATC available on request
RFFS Cat 5 available on request
Modern FBO with hangars for bizjets up to Global 7000/Gulfstream 700
Direct ramp access, VIP pax facilities, and fast turnarounds
No public access = high privacy for pax and high-profile ops

What’s the catch?

LFPM is not a designated port of entry – so it only accepts flights arriving from or departing to EU/Schengen airports (Switzerland included). No customs or immigration means international flights must route in from a Schengen stop first.

Also, while the runway can easily handle larger jets, LFPM imposes a 37-tonne (approx. 81,600 lbs) limit on actual operating weight at the time of arrival or departure – not MTOW. For heavier aircraft, fuel loads may need to be adjusted accordingly.

Looking at other options around Paris:

LFPB/Le Bourget is Paris’s main BizAv airport – but it’s slot-controlled, has APU restrictions, and can be congested in summer.
LFPG/Charles de Gaulle and LFPO/Orly are international, but mainly serve scheduled airlines and are not BizAv-friendly.
LFOB/Beauvais and LFOK/Vatry are international airports with customs, but they’re significantly farther from the city.
LFPT/Pontoise (NW of the city) is also Schengen-only, with a shorter runway and stricter weight limits. Currently undergoing refurbishment.

Faster into Paris?

Actually, yes – and not just on paper.

Even though LFPM looks farther from central Paris than LFPB, the real-world travel time is often the same or shorter. That’s especially true if you’re arriving from the south – you’ll avoid the extra flight time needed to route around LFPG/Charles de Gaulle and skip the congestion-prone A1 motorway used by LFPB/Le Bourget arrivals.

Elyxan put together a practical comparison of travel times from LFPM vs. LFPB to central Paris – factoring in flight routing, ramp access, and road traffic.

For now, it’s Schengen-only – but if French authorities eventually install CIQ, Villaroche could become a serious player. In the meantime, it’s a great EU option: straightforward, operator-friendly, and low on red tape.

📞 Contact Elyxan Aviation for more info:
ops@elyxan-aviation.fr | +33 6 58 83 66 25

5 Comments

M. Maiani says:

6 August, 2025 at 7:41 pm

We recently tried to use LFPB and Elyxan. The Elyxan staff was very helpful, but unfortunately, the tower was not open due to a staffing levels and weekend schedule. Without fluent french crew opted to not navigate the uncontrolled french speaking departure. Would try again in future but would advise all to keep a close look at tower hours for arrival and departure dates if not french speaking.

- Neil Patton says:
  
  22 September, 2025 at 11:35 am
  
  We are usually able to offer and AFIS service in English at any time the ATC/Tower is not in operation. That really can mean 24 hour / 7 day a week service inbound and outbound.
  During October 2025 we have an additional AFIS agent completing qualification and entering service, and that will further improve our ability to respond positively to all requests for out of ATC hours operations for private and commercial business aviation flights of all types.
  
Philippe-Joseph Salazar says:

6 August, 2025 at 11:05 am

This is a very misleading “advertorial”. From stuck out Villaroche to central Paris, once you board a taxi or a chauffeur driven car, it can take up to 90 minutes at rush hour, if you don’t get stuck at porte d’Orléane and insist to drop at Notre-Dame, then add a good 20 min. From Le Bourget to central Paris, a RER (fast modern, clean, user friendly metro) can take as little as 10 minutes to Gare du Nord which, for all intents and purposes is central. You can also hop on a nice, modern, electric bus at Le Bourget, right outside the terminal, that goes direct and fast to nearby Gare de l’Est. If you insist to go to Notre Dame( so called ref point) , just walk down or take one of the many buses, metros etc. If you drive or are driven, brace yourself for a trip that can take up to one hour, if lucky. Paris is always congested, road works everywhere. Forget about an early morning arrival.
I know all that like the back of my hand, being Parisian and a frequent user. To sum: Le Bourget is best, on all counts. Ticks all the. boxes. Arrive at 00:00, clear whatever fast, board RER or bus, be at Gare du Nord, central, at 00:30. Fly safe!

- Neil Patton says:
  
  22 September, 2025 at 11:59 am
  
  Philippe,
  You are just plain wrong and I have no idea why you would actually put such wrong things here as comments.
  
  I personally drove from the FBO at LFPM to the George V hotel in Paris last week in 53 minutes. I am not a taxi driver and don’t have access to their even faster lanes. It is true that Paris traffic at certain times can be really quite awful, however LFPM offers access to the South Paris autoroute network and many different entry points into Paris, so one can use any of the online and live services to select an optimum route be it A5/A6/A104/A4 etc etc. Le Bourget really doesn’t have quite this flexibility or motorway choice and in any case tends to be far more congested, and more regularly than in the South.
  As to the RER, will it’s quite a trot from the Le Bourget FBO’s to the RER although in coming years that may change as work progresses on the famous ‘Grand Paris’ project. Until then should one want rapid Train access, a 10 min ride from LFPM to the Melun station enables on to take the non-stop/direct train to Gare de Lyon (scheduled at 26-27 minutes), and running every 15 mins at peak times. It should be noted that the RER from Le Bourget to Gare du Nord is scheduled at 11-13 mins with 2 stops to take onboard and let off into some of the less salubrious areas of the capital.
  The Notre Dame reference point has been the French standard calculation point for distances since médiéval times, and as a Parisien I’d have thought you’d have understood that. Point-Zéro. It’s a physical thing just in from of the cathedral. You may want to visit and take a look. It seemed a fairly sensible place to calculate from.
  As for taking a bus into town. I’ve not known any arrivals of a business aircraft consider that as an option, but maybe your clients have? Let us know. I quite agree for the bus riders into town, Le Bourget isn’t so bad an option. We too at LFPM have a bus line directly outside the airport gates, so that too can be an option. Personally, one I won’t be recommending or promoting to our clients.
  
  Of course it is also true that coming from the South you can route direct into LFPM and be on the ground 15 minutes of so before the flight to Le Bourget will have flown around Paris or CDG airspace to get to a Le Bourget approach. That’s real time, and money, saving.
  
  I am sure none of the experienced Paris professionals believe your statement that LFPB to central Paris in 10 minutes is remotely true. It isn’t.
  
  - Neil Patton says:
    
    22 September, 2025 at 12:23 pm
    
    It is now 18:20 and the Via Michelin App is showing FBO/LFPM to Point Zero/Notre dame as 63 mins drive time and that is with the traffic during what is effectively a Monday rush hour. Can it be longer, probably, but it can also be less outside rush hour periods.
    Signature FBO /FFPB to the same point is showing 46 minutes on the same App. Given that coming from the South you’ll be on the ground in the ground transport at least 15 minutes fast at LFPM than LFPB there really isn’t any real difference in journey time right now, just a 15 minutes flight time saving and that’s real money.
    Reality, from named sources.

LFPM/Villaroche: Paris Without the Pain