Our instructors
4 instructors, one school. Since 1984, they are the ones who take you above the lagoon of Saint-Leu.
Air Lagon was founded in 1984 by John Jourdain, who made the earliest paragliding flight in the history of Reunion Island. The school has trained hundreds of pilots and opened many of the island's flying sites.
Founder
He made the earliest paragliding flight in the history of Reunion Island in November 1984, and organised the island's inaugural course — alongside Jean-Claude Bétemps and Gérard Bosson, the inventors of paragliding. He has trained hundreds of pilots and opened many of Reunion's flying sites. He no longer flies with the school today, but four decades of Reunion free flight carry his mark.
Managing director and instructor
He runs Air Lagon and flies daily, a fine technician who will happily share every trick of the trade. Curious about everything and attentive to what you want from the flight, he brings an infectious enthusiasm to every aerial tour. Many pilots discovered their calling flying with him.
State-certified instructor
Josian supervises tandem flights from the three sites worked by the school Air Lagon. Like every instructor in the company, he holds the state Brevet, the only qualification allowing paid supervision of tandem flights in France. His work starts well before launch: reading the conditions of the moment, picking the slot, adjusting the harness and checking the attachment points on the strip of Les Colimaçons. Airborne, he keeps the controls throughout and shapes the track to the thermals above the lagoon of Saint-Leu. Passengers name him regularly in the reviews published on the platforms, where his name recurs. He flies from Les Colimaçons, at 800 metres, as readily as from the Maïdo, at 2,200 metres facing the cirque of Mafate. The meeting point is taken near Kélonia in both cases.
State-certified instructor
Stéphane flies passengers from Les Colimaçons, the private altitude site and the Maïdo, according to the air of the day. Holding the state Brevet like the whole team of the school Air Lagon, he runs the briefing on the strip, facing the lagoon. That moment mainly serves to tell the passenger what not to do: the stance at launch, the few running paces, and the fact that nothing else will be asked once airborne. He checks the equipment before each rotation, to the EN standards in force. His name also appears in the reviews left at Saint-Leu. The briefing is held at Les Colimaçons, above the Mascarins conservatory, a few minutes before launch. No prior knowledge is asked of the passenger. Equipment is provided on site: helmet, harness and seat, fitted to each build before moving to the launch area of Les Colimaçons.
State-certified instructor
Christophe completes the instructor team of the school Air Lagon, all holding the state Brevet. He supervises tandem flights above the lagoon of Saint-Leu, the sugar cane fields and the Mascarins botanical conservatory. Landing falls to him as much as launch does: one or two passes over the area to line the approach into the wind, and a gentle touchdown at the water's edge, a few hundred metres from Kélonia. The debrief follows immediately, with the photo media handed over if the option was taken at the briefing. Flights from the Maïdo land on the same area as those from Les Colimaçons, below Kélonia. The team drives passengers back to the meeting point, at the north entrance of Saint-Leu. The shuttle comes down the mountain road, between the cane fields.
The instructor handles the whole flight, from inflating the wing to the run-out on landing. They pick the launch window according to wind and cloud cover over Les Colimaçons. They adjust the passenger's harness and check the attachment points. The track runs over the Mascarins, the Maïdo or the cirque of Mafate depending on the package. Airborne, they keep the controls at all times and shape the track to the thermals of the moment, above the lagoon of Saint-Leu. They may hand the controls over for a moment to a passenger who asks, under watch. They alone decide on acrobatics, never imposed. On landing they line up into the wind near Kélonia. The instructor handles the run-out. The passenger stretches their legs and stays seated until contact. The landing area borders the lagoon of Saint-Leu, near Kélonia. The instructor from Air Lagon folds the wing before rejoining the shuttle at Les Colimaçons.
The instructors at Air Lagon all hold the state Brevet. That diploma is the only qualification allowing paid supervision of tandem flights in France. It assumes personal flying experience well ahead of the training itself. State approval of the company dates to 1988, four years after the opening flight from Saint-Leu. The equipment used meets the EN 926-1, EN 926-2 and EN 1651 standards, and is checked daily. The school also holds the Qualité Tourisme label, the only paragliding operator on the island in that position, which requires a regular external audit of the service at Saint-Leu. 4 instructors currently fly the tandems from Saint-Leu. They share the nine daily slots open from Les Colimaçons and the Maïdo. Each flies both sites depending on the air of the day, above Saint-Leu and the Mascarins conservatory.
The Air Lagon school taught hundreds of solo pilots over four decades in Saint-Leu. John Jourdain had run the earliest course on the island, alongside Jean-Claude Bétemps and Gérard Bosson, who invented paragliding. That activity has come to an end. The Air Lagon school no longer takes students, and no longer prepares anyone for the pilot licence. Tandem flights carry on, from Les Colimaçons and from Le Maïdo. This past leaves a concrete mark for today's passenger. Teaching students forces you to read the air rather than endure it. The 4 instructors at the Air Lagon school built that reading on the very sites they still fly today, in Saint-Leu and across western Reunion Island. Each of them holds the Brevet d'État, the only qualification that allows paid tandem work in France.
The instructors of the school Air Lagon work three launch sites, moving between them according to the air of the day. Les Colimaçons, at 800 metres above Saint-Leu, carries most of the flights: the slope is gentle and the lagoon is reached within minutes. The private site of the school sits at 1,600 metres above the primary forest and only opens for the early departure. The Maïdo, at 2,200 metres, requires a forest walk to the rampart and faces the cirque of Mafate. Every instructor flies all three. That rotation explains the fine reading of conditions the team holds over the massif of Saint-Leu. The meeting point stays common to all three sites, near Kélonia. Only the shuttle route changes, longer towards the Maïdo than towards Les Colimaçons, on the road above Saint-Leu.
What passengers remember of the instructors shows up in public reviews. The Google listing of the school Air Lagon shows a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars, across a volume above four hundred reviews. The TripAdvisor profile carries the same rating over more than two hundred contributions. The words that recur most are the kindness at briefing, the calm at launch and the clarity of the instructions. Several passengers report flying with no experience and no particular apprehension. These reviews stay readable without an account, on both platforms. They are the only independent measure of the instructors' work at the site of Saint-Leu, at Les Colimaçons as at the Maïdo. The Qualité Tourisme label adds an external audit of the service. The school Air Lagon is the only paragliding operator in La Réunion to hold it, which sets these reviews apart from a mere claim.
Five tandem flight packages, from €90 to €299, led by state-certified instructors.