Popular Airport | Felix Houphouet Boigny Intl. Airport |
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Popular Airlines | |
Approximate Flight Duration | 6 hour 40 min |
Approximate Travel Distance | 5412 Km |
Taking a taxi in the morning or evening outside of rush hours is probably the most reliable method of transport to the airport in densely populated Durban. It’s also possible to reach the airport with rented cars or shuttle company buses.
You can reach the airport by taxi from the city centre in around 30 to 50 minutes depending on traffic conditions. It might be a good idea to speak with the taxi driver beforehand and let them know your time of departure to not have any bad surprises for your journey.
The shuttle buses that leave for the airport depart from Durban Station in the city centre, depart once every day at 8:00, 11:00, and 16:00 and reach the airport in around half an hour.
The traffic flows on the left side in Durban, so if you come from a country where you drive on the right it might be a better idea to hire a car with a driver rather than getting behind the steering wheel yourself. If you come from country where cars drive on the left side, you might be more at home with this option.
There is only one terminal in King Shaka Airport where there is an ABSA bank, which opens half an hour before the first flight and closes half an hour after the last flight. In addition, you can find financial services from the ATMs of First National Bank, Nedbank, and Standard Bank. There is a prayer room for Muslims, and a post office that offers services depending on the first and last flights of the day. There are baby and childcare rooms that mothers can use.
In addition to these services, the airport has many lounges. The most exclusive ones are the South African Airways Business Class Lounge, found near the entrance of the terminal, and BIDVest Premier Lounge. In these lounges you can order some food and rest on comfortable seating areas to read books or newspapers.
Airport restaurants include; Cape Town Fish Market, Cosmic Candy, Big Five Duty Free, Fego Coffee Shop, Kauai, KFC, Milky Lane, Mugg&Bean, Panarottis, Rhapsody’s, Spur, Steers, Sweet Treat, The Airport Cellar, and Wimpy. There is also a Yemaya Nail Express, Woolworts, Vodashop, Tie Stop, The Urban Retreat, The Scoin Shop, NWJ Fine Jewellery, Sneakers, Sunglass Hunt, Nike, MTN, Moda Luggage&Leather, Khasav, Jeep, EM Native, and Electro Electronics for your shopping needs.
Abidjan is the commercial and administrative center of the Ivory Coast, which is located in the western part of the Africa Continent. The Abidjan city, which is close to the Atlantic Ocean, is also the most important port city of the country. Abidjan is described as “the Paris of the West Africa”. The majority of the locals speak French. The currency of the country is the West African Franc.
If you want to visit Abidjan, you will have to get a visa. Diplomatic, service or special (green) passport holders are exempt from visa on their touristic journeys that do not exceed 90 days. However, the ordinary passport holders are asked to get visa. There are many military control points in Abidjan city; at these control points, you might be asked to show your passport from time to time. For this reason, you are recommended to keep your passport or its color photocopy with you in any case.
Abidjan is connected to the neighboring countries by land routes and railroads, but it also provides transportation to more than 30 African and European cities by air. Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport is located 16 kilometers southeast of Abidjan city. Turkish Airlines (THY), Air Algérie, Air Burkia, Air Cote d’Ivoire, AIR France, Asky Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Camair-Co, CEIBA Intercontinental, Corsair, Egyptair, Emirates Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Middle East Airlines – Air Lebanon, Royal Air Maroc, Senegal Airlines, South African Airways and Tunisair arrange flights to Abidjan Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport.
Turkish Airlines flies to Abidjan from Istanbul. With the reciprocal flights arranged four days a week, you can reach Abidjan after a 7-hour and 21-minute flight. Abidjan’s local time is 3 hours behind Turkey.
You can reach the city center from Abidjan Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport by bus, taxi or rental car. The buses operated by SOTRA run between the city center and the airport and they take airport passengers to Abidjan city center. If you don’t want to go on your journey by public transportation, you can take a taxi to reach the city center. You can also rent a car you prefer from the car rental offices as long as you want if you want your car to be ready for the city use.
The bus number 6 operated by SOTRA picks up the airport passengers from Abidjan Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport and takes them to Abidjan city center. The bus ride, which costs about 220 West African Francs, takes 25-30 minutes.
One of the vehicles the airport passengers can prefer in order to reach the city center after landing is the orange taxi. You should be willing to pay 1600 West African Francs for the taxi ride to reach the city center in about half an hour.
There are many car rental companies outside the terminal building of Abidjan Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport. The visitors who want to easily travel within Abidjan can rent a car from this point.
In Abidjan, the locals usually travel with motorcycles and mopeds. You can complete your journey by bargaining with a motorcycle user and ask him/her to take you to the city center.
It will soon be possible to reach the city from the airport by metro in Abidjan which has been a developing city. The metro construction has been started in 2015 and under development since then. The metro is scheduled to start serving its passengers in 2020.