Private Jet to Nice: Slots, Night Rules and the Riviera Airfields

Why Nice matters

Nice Côte d’Azur recorded 40,863 business aviation movements in 2025, up 4.4%, according to its operator, Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur. Avi-Go, which tracks business jets, ranked it second in Europe from January to August 2025, with 26,210 movements and a 3.69% share, and named Nice among the airports that reported record business jet movements in July and August 2025. London–Nice was Europe’s second-busiest city pair over those eight months, with 2,616 movements.

The season is steep. Avi-Go counted 5,412 movements at Nice in June 2026, against 3,833 in May, a rise of 41% in a month. That month, Nice connected 441 different origin cities, and its three largest feeders were Paris-Le Bourget (223 flights), Farnborough (103) and Geneva (102). If you are flying from Paris, my note on Paris-Le Bourget covers the other end of Europe’s busiest corridor; from London, see which London airport to use.

Every flight needs a slot

Nice is a Level 3 coordinated airport all year round: every movement, private flights included, needs a slot from COHOR, the French slot coordinator. For business aviation, the handling agent requests the slot on the operator’s behalf, and the AIP makes the COHOR slot number mandatory in the flight plan for business and general aviation flights.

There is a second rule that matters more for clients than for crews. For business and general aviation, a turnaround of more than four hours must be approved by the airport. In practice I do not assume that an aircraft can sit at Nice for the length of a weekend in summer. Sometimes it can; sometimes it has to leave and come back, and that positioning belongs in the quote from the start rather than as a surprise.

The terminal and the three FBOs

Private passengers use the Business Aviation Terminal, 1,510 m², opened in 2010, with its own customs post and two security posts. Customs, police and air traffic control are available around the clock, which is not true of every Riviera airfield. The airport limits handling to three FBOs: AviaVIP, Signature Aviation and DC Aviation G-OPS.

The choice of FBO is usually the operator’s, not yours. What I check is simpler: that the handler has confirmed the slot and the parking, that the car or helicopter knows which terminal to meet, and that luggage is not going to be carried across the airport twice.

Night rules and late arrivals

Nice is open 24 hours, but not to every aircraft. Under the order of 2 March 2010, Chapter 2 aircraft and the noisiest Chapter 3 jets, those with a cumulative margin below 13 EPNdB, may not land between 23:30 and 06:15 or take off between 23:15 and 06:00 local time. Whether a given aircraft clears that threshold depends on its noise certificate, not its age or size alone.

The practical point is this: if a late departure from London or a long dinner in Monaco could push the flight past 23:00, I ask the operator to confirm the aircraft’s noise certification against the Nice rule before the client relies on that time. It takes a minute to check and a great deal longer to fix at midnight.

Cannes-Mandelieu: closer, with limits

Cannes-Mandelieu lies west of Nice, closer to Cannes itself and to the Estérel. It is a smaller airfield with firm limits. Its main runway is 1,540 metres, with 1,420 m available for landing on runway 17 and 1,260 m on runway 35; it is closed to jets above 35 tonnes maximum take-off weight and to Chapter 3 jets with less than 13 EPNdB of noise margin, and customs are on request.

Its hours are also shorter. The airport lists air traffic control from 08:00, closing at 20:00 in winter, 21:00 in spring and autumn and 22:00 from early May to late August. Cannes handled 12,865 business aviation movements in 2025, down 0.5%. I use it for light and midsize jets when the client is staying in Cannes or to the west and the timings fit inside its day. A long-range jet, a late arrival or a tight runway calculation on a hot afternoon all point back to Nice.

Saint-Tropez La Môle: the short runway

La Môle is the closest airfield to Saint-Tropez and the most restricted. The runway is 1,071 metres long and 30 metres wide, and the aerodrome is approved for restricted use only. Every jet falls into its ‘Group 1’: the operator must file a dossier with the civil aviation authority one month in advance and receive its acknowledgement, and the captain needs the prescribed training and a familiarisation flight within the previous six months. The field cannot be used on a contaminated runway, and flights from outside the Schengen area are permitted only from 1 July to 15 October.

Demand is rising all the same: Saint-Tropez reached a record 4,261 business aviation movements in 2025, up 15.3%. An aircraft designed for short runways, such as the Pilatus PC-24, is where I start; but the deciding question is whether that operator and that captain hold the La Môle approval. If they do not, I would rather land at Nice and drive or fly the last stretch than find out on the day.

Monaco: the last seven minutes

Monaco has no runway, so private jets for Monaco land at Nice. The airport has its own 201 m² helicopter terminal for the transfer. Monacair runs a scheduled service every 30 minutes, with a flight time of about seven minutes, from €195 per person, or a private helicopter for €750 for up to six people. The scheduled line runs from the morning until nightfall, so a late arrival means a car along the coast instead.

I tell clients to treat the helicopter as part of the timetable rather than an add-on. Bags, weather and the last daylight departure decide whether the plan works, and all three are easier to manage when the jet’s arrival time is set with the helicopter in mind.

May: the Grand Prix and the Film Festival

The Riviera’s hardest fortnight is usually late May, when the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix fall close together. In 2025 the French authorities published a special supplement for 13 to 26 May, warning that traffic was likely to exceed the capacity of Nice airport and the Monaco helipad, and that only users guaranteed an aircraft stand by their ground handling agent for the whole stop would be allowed to land.

That is the rule I plan around for any event week: no confirmed parking, no landing. Slots and stands go early, aircraft are often dropped at Nice and sent elsewhere to wait, and the cost of that repositioning belongs in the quote. I set out how I handle these weeks in peak-event charter demand.

What a flight to Nice costs

Jet Supply’s Q4 2026 index quotes London to Nice (1h 42m) from €9,500 one way on a super light jet, with crew and fuel included and positioning, airport and handling fees and taxes on top. On the return, France adds its own line. Since March 2025, a passenger leaving France on a commercial business jet pays a solidarity tax of €420 to a destination in Europe. By my arithmetic, six passengers flying Nice to London pay €2,520 in that tax alone before the smaller airport and security charges; I explain the rest in private jet taxes in Europe.

The tax has changed the market at the margin. The airport group notes that at Nice aircraft of 3 to 6 tonnes declined by around 9% after the tax increase, while traffic overall still grew. For a full cabin on a larger jet the tax is a smaller share of the bill; for two people on a very light jet it is a much larger one.

How I plan a Riviera arrival

I start with where the client is staying and work backwards. Monaco and the eastern Riviera mean Nice, often with a helicopter. Cannes and the hills to the west can mean Cannes-Mandelieu, if the aircraft and the hours fit. Saint-Tropez means La Môle only when the operator holds the approval and the weather is kind; otherwise Nice and a transfer. Then I check four things: the slot, the parking for the whole stay, the noise certification for any late movement, and the transfer.

Charter enquiries I take are fulfilled through Limitless Sky. If you send me the dates, the group, the bags and where you are staying, I will price the flight into the airfield that suits the trip, with the repositioning and taxes shown rather than left for later.

Frequently asked questions

Do private jets need a slot at Nice? — Yes. Nice is a Level 3 coordinated airport all year, and every movement, including business aviation, needs a COHOR slot, requested through the handling agent. Turnarounds longer than four hours must be approved by the airport.

Can a private jet land at Nice at night? — Nice is open 24 hours, but Chapter 2 aircraft and Chapter 3 jets with a cumulative noise margin below 13 EPNdB may not land between 23:30 and 06:15 or take off between 23:15 and 06:00 local time.

Which airport is best for Monaco? — Nice. Monaco has no runway; a scheduled helicopter takes about seven minutes, every 30 minutes until nightfall, from €195 per person, or a car takes you along the coast.

Can a private jet land at Saint-Tropez? — Some can. La Môle has a 1,071-metre runway; the operator must file a dossier a month in advance and the captain needs specific training and a recent familiarisation flight. Non-Schengen flights are allowed only from 1 July to 15 October.