EgyptThis article has been translated from Russian language using an artificial intelligence-based translation algorithm. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the quality of the translation. You can read the original of this article in Russian here, and ask questions on the topic of our travel forum in English here.
Sharm el-Sheikh Airport is the main international airport not only of Sharm el-Sheikh, but also of the entire Sinai Peninsula. Through it, in addition to the Charm itself, people get to rest in the resorts of Dahab, Nuweiba, El Tour and other places on the Sinai Peninsula. Sometimes it even makes sense to get to Cairo through it, because airlines sometimes offer such low prices for charter flights that it is cheaper to fly here and take a taxi to Cairo than to fly to Cairo right away.
Sharm el-Sheikh Airport
What flights and a/c fly to Sharm el-Sheikh airport and how to buy cheap tickets
Sharm el-Sheikh Airport is one of the most popular in Egypt with Russian and foreign airlines, flights here are carried out often and a lot. The geography of flights is large, there are flights from almost all regions of the Russian Federation, although they are not performed every day. But from Moscow and St. Petersburg planes fly several times a day. There are also flights from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as regular domestic flights to Cairo and Luxor. There are no direct flights to Hurghada, you will have to fly there with a transfer via Cairo or Luxor.
The plane at Sharm el-Sheikh airport
Only charters fly from the Russian Federation, which are ordered by tour operators to deliver tourists on vouchers. But what is nice is that such tickets are available for free sale at a very good price. However, to do this, you will have to keep track of prices and be ready to "break" on the road at any time, since unlike regular flights, cheap charter tickets appear on sale a few days before departure. To make it easier to keep track of prices, you can join channels and groups in Telegram, VK or Viber, where we publish the best deals and abnormal prices for tickets and tours.
Planes fly to Sharm el-Sheikh all year round, because it is a year-round resort. However, prices vary greatly depending on the tourist season, i.e. the time of year. According to our experience of recent years, the most profitable flights can be purchased in November and December, and this also applies to tours.
We search and buy tickets ourselves on a reliable Russian search engine Aviasales, and we advise you:
Minimum prices for tickets from Moscow to Sharm el-Sheikh:
Minimum ticket prices from Russian cities to Sharm el-Sheikh:
Online scoreboard of Sharm el-Sheikh Airport:
How to get to/from Sharm el-Sheikh Airport
After the resumption of air traffic with the Russian Federation, according to the requirements of the Russian side, security measures have been significantly strengthened at the airport. For passengers departing to the Russian Federation, a separate "corridor" has been organized, with numerous inspections and document checks starting from the entrance to the departure hall, and almost to the landing itself. Be prepared for the fact that you will have to pass luggage and hand luggage through scanners several times, open suitcases and show the contents. All this happens in a little turmoil and seeming chaos, and takes a little more time than before, but in general everything is organized normally. If you are delivered to the airport by a representative of the tour operator, then he will take care of the necessary amount of time. But if you are traveling on your own, we advise you to arrive at the airport at least 3-4 hours before departure, so as not to take risks.
If you arrive at the airport on a ticket, you will be met by Russian-speaking representatives of the tour operator and taken to the hotel reception, this is called a group tourist transfer. The meeting usually takes place even before passport control, where representatives of tour operators with signs distribute arriving tourists in queues, check documents and call your bus number. Then you go through passport control on your own, get your luggage and go through customs control, go out from the arrivals hall to the street, where you need to find a bus in the parking lot that will take you to the hotel. Sometimes the rules change, and tourists are met and distributed on buses after receiving their luggage.
Transfer from the hotel to the airport at the end of the rest on the ticket is also carried out by the operator. Notifying tourists about the time of departure is carried out through the information corner in the lobby of the hotel, usually it is located next to the reception. There, on the stands or in the folders, in the evening on the day of the upcoming departure, the lists of tourists and the time of their departure are placed. You need to check in and check out of the hotel and be ready to check out by the specified time.
Buses of tour operators are waiting for tourists near the airport
If you are traveling on your own, then you will have to get to the hotel from the airport by taxi or book a personal tourist transfer. There are no other options, Sharmel-Sheikh public transport does not go to the airport.
The airport is located in the center of the resort (airport on the map), but you can't walk to the hotels because the exit from the terminal is on the other side of the city, and you would have to walk almost 5 kilometers to the nearest "civilization".
It takes only 10 minutes to get to the nearest resort area by taxi, and 20 minutes to the farthest. The car can be ordered at the reception in the baggage claim hall. Taxi rates are quite high, they are charged according to the area where your hotel is located. For example, a trip to the nearest area of Shark Bay will cost $ 22, and you can get to the area of Sharm el-Maya for $ 32 (we have written about the areas of Sharm el-Sheikh here). Payment is accepted in dollars, Egyptian pounds, euros, but not in rubles. Read more about the currency of Egypt and how to pay here. To get to Sharm el-Sheikh airport from the resort, a taxi can be found even cheaper by almost two times, but you will need to bargain.
Taxi stand with prices at Sharm el-Sheikh airport
You can also book a personal tourist transfer in advance, which is more convenient and even more profitable than a taxi at the counter. Then the driver will meet you with a sign at the exit from the arrivals hall and take you where you need. You can book a transfer on the websites kiwitaxi.ru, intui.travel or directly through this search form from kiwitaxi:
Find the route
Book your transfer online
The driver meets you at the airport or train stationAnother way to get from the airport is to rent a car. There are rental counters in the arrivals hall, but it's better to take care of the rental in advance: find and book a car via the Internet, and approach the counter with ready-made armor, so it will be more reliable and cheaper. You can book on these reliable price comparison sites from different rental offices:
- 🚗 Rent a car on Discover Cars (our choice in terms of price/quality ratio).
- 🚗 Rent a car on Economy Bookings (the lowest prices are most often found here).
- 🚗 Rent a car on LocalRent (best Russian-language support).
Airport structure and what tourists need to know
Sharma Airport is small, but there is everything you need to wait for a flight. the device and layout are very simple and will not cause difficulties, since there are staff everywhere who will distribute the flow of tourists, and all the signs are duplicated in english and russian.
To make it easier for you to navigate, we have described the procedure for passengers at the airport in steps:
Upon arrival
Arrival hall
- After disembarking from the plane, you will first follow the corridor to the tour operator's desks, where you will receive instructions on how you will be taken to the hotel. Here you also need to fill out a migration card, and if necessary, get and pay for a visa on arrival. If you decide to put free Sinai stamp, then you don't need to pay anything, and fill out the immigration card yourself, it takes only a couple of minutes. Representatives of the tour operator can fill out the card for you, and ask for $ 3-5 for it, which is clearly not worth it.
- With a completed card and visa (if you need it), go to passport control.
- After passport control, go down to the floor below and pick up the luggage from the tape there. If you stay in the queue for a long time at the previous stages, then the luggage can be removed from the tape and will be waiting for you in this hall.
- After receiving your luggage, you can visit the local Duty Free store, but it does not work around the clock. Here, in the arrivals hall, you can buy a local SIM card at one of the counters, order a taxi transfer to the hotel or get a reserved car for rent.
- From the arrivals hall, go outside and go to the parking lot directly, where I am waiting for tour operator buses and taxis.
At departure
Departure lounge
- To get into the airport building, you will first have to go through the initial security control. Sometimes there can be long queues on it.
- When you get to the departure hall, immediately go to the check-in counters.
- After check-in and baggage check-in, go to the "clean zone" through passport control and security control, since there is nothing to do in the departure lounge, and there are no waiting places here.
- In the "clean zone" there is a departure lounge, a Duty Free store, several cafes, souvenir shops. Prices are very high, for example, a small bottle of water $ 3, a can of lemonade 0.33 l. - $ 5. If you want to eat, then the cheapest place to eat is at the Burger Joint on the top floor.
The waiting room is well air-conditioned before departure, so a warm jacket or even a jacket will be useful here during the long wait for the flight to land. Considering that charter flights are often delayed already at this stage, we advise you not to neglect warm clothes, otherwise you will freeze very much in a couple of hours of waiting.
Boarding waiting area
Is there a Dutch free at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport
Yes, there are duty-free shops here, both on departure and on arrival.
Duty-Free shops on arrival are located in the hall where you will receive your luggage after passing through passport control. The store is small and does not always work. If you can't buy it on arrival, you can do it within 48 hours in one of the shops already at the resort. There are several such shops in Sharma, and the prices there are lower than at the airport. To purchase, you will need the original passport.
The Duty-Free store is located in the boarding waiting area upon departure. It is larger and the assortment is richer than in the store on arrival. In it you can buy alcohol and cigarettes, gold and jewelry, cosmetics and perfume, and even souvenirs. But simple cheap souvenirs like magnets and key chains are much more expensive here than in the city.