International to Domestic Flight in Cairo on Egypt Air
Replies: 14 - Last Post: Dec 5, 2012 12:15 AM Last Post By: JonMW
jump to
International to Domestic Flight in Cairo on Egypt Air
Hello,This Monday I'm flying from Istanbul to Cairo then Cairo to Aswan with a 1:05 layover which has me a bit concerned. A while ago someone at Egypt Air told me that customs will be handled at Aswan and I won't have to recheck the bag in Cairo. What about a visa/immigration? Will that somehow be taken care of in Aswan too or will I have to get the visa on arrival in Cairo (US passport) within my limited layover? Both flights supposedly arr/dep Terminal 3.
Cheers.
Jon
1
did something similar yesterday .arrived from Bangkok in T3 and onward connection to sharm from T3,in BKK they checked my luggage through to Sharm,on arrival in egypt in T3,u see a sign dom connections,however first go to a bank,buy your visa there and than go to the dom connection,also change money on arrival in one of the banks,their rate is as good as outside,got 6,10 EP for 1 $...also on arrival do not be surprised if ur luggage is not on the domestic carroussel arriving form Cairo,happened with me and was freaking out,but since u arrive International,they will put it on another carroussel so they can inspect it if necessary,one of the Egypt air reps will tell u3
That's right, you show your passport at the Domestic Connection on your left before the normal passport control, but first you get your visa. In Aswan your luggage will be considered international and you pass through custom there. Don't worry!I prefer to use the ATM at domestic departures.
5
You MUST deplane in Cairo and get your visa there.....BE PREPARED to spend a lot of time and hassle at Cairo airport. Not impossible...just difficult. If you are on a limited connection time to Aswan forget it, your bag will get there well ahead of you. If you can, go to the nearest Egyptian embassy, explain your situation, pay expedited visa charges. Its worth it!! Once you've been admitted to Egypt thru Cairo, you are free to travel anywhere in Egypt on that visa without any more paperwork as your passport has already been stamped in Cairo. Free advice: register with your itinery in Egypt with your embassy......you never know......6
- 5,not sure what u mean hassles ? time... depends I guess what time u arrive there ...I arrived at 6 am and took me exactly 1 minute to buy a visa sticker and change money and another one minute to go through the pasport control for domestic connections,no hassles/questions asked ...but maeybe when its busier it might take a bit longer but there are at least 4-5 banks selling visa stickers so cannot take that long...so no need to pay expedited visa charges...its 15 $ for a visa sticker and done....
7
I also think an hour is plenty of time to buy a visa, get through immigration, and get to the domestic flight. Not having to retrieve my bag in Cairo makes it easy.8
Jon,to make it clear,once u do get ur sticker visa ,DO NOT got to the immigrationcounter u will see ahead of u but go back toa sign saying " domestic connection transfers" and its there u will clear immigration,not the general immigration counters....and sure will only take few minutes as it is only for people with domestic connections not the general arrivals
9
Thanks a lot for the clarification. That should save even more time.I wish they had something like that in Istanbul which has been totally mobbed all 3 times I've flown through there, once with a domestic connection that I made with literally one minute to spare.
14
Just to follow up on my experience...It did not work out so well. The plane left Istanbul 30 minutes late and while I had no problem getting the visa in Cairo and connecting to the Aswan flight, my bag did not make the connection even though an Egypt Air employee on the Aswan flight told me he checked and the bag was on the flight.
Not only that, because of some absurd customs procedure Egypt Air would not deliver my bag to my hotel when it did arrive. I had to go back to the airport (well over 30 minutes each way with horrendous traffic to the airport) to pick up my bag so I could sign some form which easily could have been taken care of while I was at the airport upon arrival. Oh, and the airline expected me to pay for taxi to go back which was totally unacceptable so I raised holy hell and the Egypt Air employee called some customs official and said the bag would be delivered.
Fast forward to the next day and no bag was delivered. The employee took me himself to the airport and helped me with the customs paperwork but I think he did it only to get some money that was supposed to be given to me as reimbursement or something for the delay.
Also, clearly someone rifled through my bag prior to the customs "inspection" and one minor item is missing. Overall, piss-poor customer service.
