Skip to content
Catavento

France

A short overview: how flying works here, where the sites are, and where to find more. Check with the national body or a local club or school before flying.

Overview

How flying works here

National body: Fédération Française de Vol Libre (FFVL) (opens in a new tab)

Visiting pilots

  • The IPPI card is accepted in France, and third-party liability insurance is compulsory.
  • Foreign pilots can join the FFVL and get the same insurance cover as French members.

A short summary, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the current requirements with Fédération Française de Vol Libre (FFVL) before you fly. Summary checked 13 Oct 2026.

Fédération Française de Vol Libre (FFVL): current rules for visiting pilots (opens in a new tab)

Learning to fly

  • The FFVL awards its school label for one season at a time. EFVL schools are run by state-qualified professionals and club-schools (CEFVL) by volunteer federation-qualified instructors.
  • More than 200 professional schools belong to the FFVL network. You can find one on the FFVL school map.
  • Training follows three FFVL brevets (initial, pilot and confirmed pilot), each with practical modules and a multiple-choice theory exam.

Checked 13 Oct 2026 against official sources: source 1 (opens in a new tab) · source 2 (opens in a new tab) · source 3 (opens in a new tab) · source 4 (opens in a new tab) · source 5 (opens in a new tab) · source 6 (opens in a new tab) · source 7 (opens in a new tab) · source 8 (opens in a new tab) · source 9 (opens in a new tab) · source 10 (opens in a new tab)

Visiting France: help on the ground and flying tours

Information only. Forecast direction is compared with each site's published wind range; speeds are shown but not judged. Always check the official site guide, the administering club and conditions on the day. You are responsible for your decision to fly.

Sites

Sites listed by ParaglidingEarth's contributors. Ask a local club or school about each one before flying there.

Loading the map…

Community site data: © ParaglidingEarth contributors (CC BY-SA 3.0 / ODbL 1.0) · checked 13 Oct 2026