British Airways launched a new seasonal route this spring connecting London City Airport to Toulon-Hyères, the closest airport to St. Tropez, and for anyone based in central London who dreads the trek out to Heathrow or Gatwick, it’s a genuinely compelling option.
The details first. The route is operated by BA CityFlyer and launched in May 2026, running twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays until 1 September. It is currently the only nonstop service between London and Toulon. Because it only flies Tuesday and Saturday, this is a trip you plan around the flight rather than the other way round. Tuesday out, Saturday back gives you the better half of a week.
London City is not the most glamorous airport, but it’s refreshingly efficient. There’s little reason to arrive more than an hour before departure, as boarding typically doesn’t begin until around 15 minutes before the scheduled flight time. Security is straightforward, laptops and liquids don’t need to be removed from bags, though skipping that step tends to invite a manual inspection. There isn’t much to do once you’re through, so there’s no benefit to arriving early. One pleasant surprise: in-flight service was genuinely generous, with complimentary drinks throughout, unusual for BA short-haul.
Toulon-Hyères sits on a naval base and is surprisingly pleasant for such a small airport. As the only non-Schengen arrival, immigration was quick, three agents were on hand and the queue moved fast. Rental cars are just a five-minute walk from the terminal, and we were on the road within ten minutes of landing.
The airport is around 45 minutes from St. Tropez, a significant improvement over the two-plus hour drive from Nice or Marseille, especially in summer traffic. It is also the closest airport to Hyères itself and to the ferries out to Porquerolles and the Îles d’Or, which are worth building a day around.
Flying home, and the one thing nobody tells you
Buy your food and drinks after security but before you go through passport control. Once you’re through, you’re locked into the international area, and there is nothing there but a toilet and a single vending machine, which stopped working while we were waiting. It’s a small airport and there’s no way back out.
The rest of the return is smooth, security and border checks take just minutes. But the airport lacks online check-in infrastructure, and staff were notably confused about the UK ETA requirement, even for passengers who actually live in the UK, causing some unnecessary friction before boarding passes were issued. And there is no option to choose your seats.
To save yourself the same trouble: if you hold a UK visa or residence permit you do not need an ETA, and British and Irish passport holders don’t either. The problem is that the airline’s system checks passport numbers for an attached ETA and flags anything without one, so a check-in agent looking at a US passport with no ETA will often stop you. Have your eVisa share code or your residence permit open on your phone before you get to the desk. Expect to show it more than once, and expect to explain it. Allow extra time on the Toulon end for this specifically.
Worth booking?
Yes, if the days work for you. The route runs seasonally until 1 September, so it’s a high-summer option only. Outside that window, Marseille or Nice remain the alternatives. Whether it returns for summer 2027 hasn’t been confirmed, so if you’re planning ahead, watch for the schedule opening in early spring.