Popular Airport | Tan Son Nhat Intl. Airport |
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Popular Airlines | |
Approximate Flight Duration | 11 hour 30 min |
Approximate Travel Distance | 9253 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.
You can buy a ticket for the bus, or take one of the taxis waiting in front of the terminal as soon as you land in Tan Son Nhat Airport, located just 5 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City center. Another option is to rent a car. It is possible to get to the city center from Tan Son Nhat Airport in 30 minutes by bus and in a maximum of 10 minutes by other means of transportation.
Go out when you arrive at the arrival terminal of the airport, and there you will see the stops of the direct buses to the city center. You can get on bus number 152 by purchasing your ticket immediately from the offices. These light cream and green colored minibus sized buses depart every 30 minutes from Tan Son Nhat Airport to the famous Ben Tanh Market, which is a 15-minute walk from to the city center. It is economical and easy to go to the city center by bus number 152, which runs between 6 am and 6 pm. The single-use fare is only 30 cents as of 2017. In addition to this, bus number 109, operated by SATSCO which runs every 15-20 minutes, provides access to the city center from Tan Son Nhat Airport. The bus number 109, which provides transportation services from 05.30 in the morning to 01.30 at night, departs from the column 18 of the domestic terminal and the column 15 of the international terminal and arrives at Ben Thanh Station within 45 minutes. Some of the bus stops on this route are Troug Son, Tran Quoc Hoan, Hoang Van Thu, Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Pham Ngu Lao Park 2. The fare for bus number 109 varies between 12.000 (less than 5 km) – 20.000 (more than 5 km) Viet Nam Dong as of March 16, 2016.
The taxis, those take you directly from Tan Son Nhat Airport to the center of Ho Chi Minh City, for only 5-7 dollars (150.000-170.000 Viet Nam Dong), wait for the passengers 7/24 outside the terminal. If you want to use private taxis outside the airport, you can ask for a taxi by calling Vinasun Taxi (+84838272727) or Malinh Taxi Group (+84838383838).
The most known car rental companies at Tan Son Nhat Airport arrival terminal are Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt. If you are going to stay in Ho Chi Minh for a few days, you might benefit from renting a car. Because renting a car on an hourly basis is generally not possible. It would take 10-12 minutes to reach Ho Chi Minh City center by the car you book in advance and pick up as soon as you land.