Help with flying out of the Florence airport
Hi there-I am looking to fly from Florence to Barcelona in June 2010. Can anyone recommend an airline that is not Alitalia? We do not mind having to stop over in another city as long as the layover isn't too bad. I haven't heard much about the Florence airport...are there any problems I should anticipate? Thank you in advance! China
china
HI 11/16/09
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China - The connections out of Florence seem to be very expensive. There is one nonstop flight that is reasonable on Meridiana airlines. I don't have any experience with them so I can't comment on the service or reliability.
You can also try the Pisa airport. It's not hard to get to from Florence and Vueling flies nonstop from Pisa to Barcelona.
Other airlines fly connections, but they seem to always be in the $400-700 range. You probably could book separate tickets on easyJet with a connection. easyJet also has a nonstop flight to Barcelona from Milan.
Enjoy your trip!
Couple comments on the Florence airport, if you end up using it.
1) I assume you're talking about FLR. Sometimes "Florence" gets applied to the airport at Pisa.
2) FLR is on the outskirts of the city core. I think it was about a 20 minute cab ride.
3) The airport is TINY. Only 4 gates. It was very easy to navigate.
4) Because the airport is tiny, they bussed us out to our plane and we had to board from the tarmac.
5) Security was thorough, but very polite. No lines at 7am, which was a blessing since a ticket snafu made us very late for the flight.
Try http://www.vueling.com - Vueling and Click recently merged - they fly discount from Pisa to Barcelona (70 euro on a random date I checked). The Pisa airport is a cheap train ride from Florence, about an hour I think.
You might be better off taking a train to Milan and taking a flight from there. It is a truly international airport (more so than Florence) and you will have more airlines to choose from. More airlines to compete against one another = lower fares. I would avoid Italian airlines altogether as they have frequent strikes and the service leaves much to be desired, not to mention an increased risk of missing luggage.
It's over two hours on a EuroStar Italia train from Florence to Milan. The 2nd class fare is 44.70 EUR. And then you still have to take the time and pay for getting to the airport.
It's less than 90 minutes on regional trains from Florence to the Pisa airport (one connection at Pisa Centrale). The fare is 5.70 EUR.
If the schedule works for you, fly Vueling from Pisa to Barcelona.
Hey guys, thanks so much for the great advice and suggestions. I think we'll look into flying out from Pisa or Milan instead of Florence. Luckily, they aren't too far away! Thanks again!
I flew Meridiana from Amsterdam to Florence in September. Flight was on time and service was good. There was even a free onboard snack. Their checked baggage is also much higher than many of the other discount airlines. I would recommend them.