Flights to Luxembourg from Britain, checked at the source

Before you start comparing flights to Luxembourg, one thing nobody tells you. The airport’s list of routes can’t be read as plain text, because its destination finder is a third-party widget that only draws the data inside your browser. So what follows is what I could confirm on each airline’s own website, and I’ll be clear about what I couldn’t.

Which UK routes are confirmed

Luxair’s, the national airline. London City gets a page billed as direct flights, and Manchester and Edinburgh have their own destination pages on the same site. The Manchester page announces up to three flights a week from a 29 March without giving the year, so I won’t quote that frequency as current. None of the pages gives a season calendar or a route fare, only a general airline promotion, so dates and prices come from the booking engine.

Luxair is also the airline based at Findel, alongside the cargo carrier Cargolux, according to the airport operator. If you live within reach of London City, Manchester or Edinburgh, that’s where I’d look first.

BA, easyJet and the rest

Both British airlines appear on the airport’s list, alongside Ryanair and a dozen continental carriers, which is encouraging, but a name on a list proves nothing about a particular route.

The airport website links to 16 airlines, including British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, KLM, Lufthansa, Air France and Swiss. Some of them could get you there with a change at their home hub, and some may well fly direct from a UK airport. I couldn’t check that at the source, and I’d rather not hand you a route that turns out not to exist.

My advice is to search each airline’s own site with LUX as the destination code. If a deal sends you to an airport with Luxembourg in its name somewhere else, look twice, because Luxembourg is also a province of Belgium.

When you compare fares, look at the whole trip rather than the headline price. A low-cost ticket with a paid cabin bag can end up close to a Luxair fare, and Luxair flies from London City, which for many Londoners is quicker to reach than the bigger airports. At the Luxembourg end the transfer is free whichever airline you choose, so the difference is all at the UK end.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Luxemburgo for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

When flying somewhere else and finishing overland makes sense

Occasionally it does. Flibco’s shuttle from Charleroi airport in Belgium is one example, and I cover it in coach to Luxembourg. You could also fly to Paris and take the TGV, 2 hours 10 minutes from the Gare de l’Est, or to Brussels and take the direct train, a little under three hours according to CFL.

I’d only take the long way round if the saving is obvious. Add the transfer, the extra hours and the risk of a missed connection, and a slightly dearer direct flight to Findel usually wins. The full comparison, rail from London included, is in how to get to Luxembourg.

Airport details worth knowing before you book

No scheduled flights land or take off between eleven at night and six in the morning, because the airport has a curfew. Plan on being at the terminal a couple of hours before you fly, as the operator advises. For early starts, Luxair takes bags the evening before, a detail explained on the airport page.

There’s no left-luggage office at the airport, for security reasons. If your flight home is late and you want to drop your case, the central station has a paid service. Parking, car hire and the rest of the terminal are in Luxembourg airport.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Luxemburgo for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

From the plane to the city for nothing

This is what I like most about flying into Luxembourg. The T1 tram waits outside the terminal and crosses Kirchberg on its way to the central station, and two bus lines, the 16 and the 29, run several times an hour. Since 1 March 2020 none of it has cost a penny, for locals or visitors. The details are in Luxembourg airport to city centre.

At passport control, remember Luxembourg is in Schengen. Check your passport’s issue and expiry dates against the Schengen rules before you book, and expect the new biometric registration on your first visit. If you land on the last flight of the evening, take a look at Luxembourg airport hotels before booking in town.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Luxemburgo on GetYourGuide.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Luxembourg: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

Before you fix your dates, compare tickets to Luxembourg: the same journey can cost very different amounts from one day to the next.