Sphinx International Airport Arrivals

What is the arrival terminal at Sphinx Airport?

There is one terminal at Sphinx Airport. The arrival area is on the ground floor of T1 (Terminal 1). Arriving passengers are directed directly to the ground floor after disembarking from the aircraft. Here are the baggage claim conveyors and the general arrivals area (baggage claim & arrivals hall). The route to the Arrivals Hall on the ground floor is signposted. You can therefore only follow the signs to the arrival hall.

Tip: No shuttle service needed
Sphinx Airport has a single terminal within the main terminal building. You can reach everywhere on foot by following the direction signs. The terminal building is not very big. Escalators, lifts and moving walkways make it easy to navigate between the terminals.

Assistance and accessibility

If you have walking difficulties or another disability that may prevent you from easily finding the arrival terminal, you can arrange for assistance from the support office at Sphinx Airport. Simply ask the information team and they will help you immediately.

Passport Control

If you are travelling to Egypt from abroad, a security guard will give you an orange page when you get off the plane. Orange pages are for tourists. This form is a document that you must fill in your personal information and submit it during passport control. The information requested to be filled in the form is: your name, surname, date and place of birth, document number and type. You can use either a passport or a travel document. With your orange paper you should go to the hall with the white counters, ATMs and bank counters. Here you can fill in the orange paper. Do not queue for passport control until you get your visa. You need to pay for your visa before going to the immigration checkpoint.

Egypt Tourist Visa on Arrival

Visas are sold at bank branches. There are two bank branches in the terminal. You can queue in the bank and buy your visa. The visa price is 25 USD (25 Euro). Payment is made in cash. Debit card or credit card is not valid. There are 3 ATMs next to the banks. You can withdraw money from here. A visa is a sticker that you stick in your passport. After you get your visa, you can queue for immigration control. When it is your turn, give your passport, visa and orange page to the operator. At the passport control point, your passport will be stamped and the visa will be affixed to the passport.

What about connecting flights ?

Sphinx Airport is not a transit centre. Therefore, there is no direct connecting flight (through-check-in and transit lounge) at the airport. Passengers wishing to connect to another flight must disembark from the aircraft, go through visa and passport control, collect their luggage and check in again.

A connecting passenger must enter passport control after completing the process of filling in the orange ‘tourist form’ and purchasing a visa after landing. It is mandatory to take the luggage and re-check in. If you are connecting from this airport, you should leave at least 2.5-3 hours between your flights. Allow time for visa, passport control, baggage claim and re-check-in.

How long does it take to pass through passport control at Sphinx Airport?

Passport control times at Sphinx International Airport vary. The average waiting time is around 15-30 minutes. During peak hours and when the number of staff is low, this time may take up to 2 hours.

Immediately after passport control, there is a place where there are baggage delivery rollers. You can take your luggage from here and exit the terminal. Before leaving, you must go through the security check again.

Are you only carrying hand luggage ?

Remember to follow the same signs as everyone else! Even if you only have hand luggage with you, the airport Arrivals exit route is the same for everyone.

How to collect checked baggage at Sphinx Airport?

At Sphinx Airport, baggage claimn after both domestic and international flights is carried out at the baggage claim area on the ground floor of Terminal 1.

For international flights, you will be directed to baggage claim after passport and customs controls are completed. After disembarking from the aircraft, you go through passport control by purchasing the orange form and your visa. This process usually takes 15-60 minutes. Following passport control, your luggage passes through customs. Your belongings may be randomly x-ray scanned. On the ground floor of Terminal 1, just beyond the passport control exit, there are baggage reclaim conveyors. Arriving passengers can directly reach the baggage belt by following the ‘Baggage Claim’ signs as soon as they exit passport control.

Domestic flight passengers are not subject to passport control or visa procedures. After disembarking from your aircraft, you can go directly to the baggage claim area.

Safety and security tips

Take care of your belongings to avoid leaving anything behind when collecting your baggage. You can make mistakes when you are tired after a long flight. So make sure you have the right luggage!

After Baggage Claim

Shops

There are shops in the Arrivals section of Sphinx International Airport after passport control and baggage claim. There are shops selling small Egyptian-themed souvenirs, souvenirs and handmade products. There are also dealers where you can buy sim cards. The shops are usually open from 06:00 in the morning until 22:00 in the evening, in parallel with the airport flight traffic. Do not buy a sim card at the airport if you do not have to. The price is more expensive than in the city centre.

Cash and foreign currency

At the Arrivals Level of Sphinx Airport, there are both ATMs and official exchange bureaus for the cash that travellers will need. ATMs belonging to many major Egyptian banks are located at strategic points in the arrival hall. You can withdraw money from ATMs with your Visa or MasterCard card. Your bank charges an international withdrawal fee for each transaction. There is usually a withdrawal limit of EGP 2000-3000 per ATM.

Exchange offices (licensed providers such as ONExchange) provide an exchange service from USD, EUR and other common currencies to Egyptian Pounds against a passport copy. Exchange offices are close to the baggage claim area and are located in brightly signposted booths.

Restaurants, coffee, food

Sphinx Airport does not yet have a fully equipped restaurant section on the arrival level where you can unwind. Instead, there are small-scale cafés and snack stands. You can find espresso, cappuccino and cold coffee as well as sandwiches and light snacks at chain coffee outlets such as Segafredo Café, located near the exit to the baggage reclaim area. This small café is usually open from 06:00 to 22:00 in the morning. In the same area, the 24-hour mini ‘Grab & Fly’ shops offer sandwiches, soups, salads and takeaway breakfast options. The prices in the café on the arrival level are a bit higher than in the city centre, for example a bottle of water costs around EGP 50 and an energy drink around EGP 90.

You can also buy snacks such as chocolate bars, biscuits and cold drinks from the vending machines in the arrival area at any time.

How can I pick up someone from the Arrivals section at Sphinx Airport?

Meeting points near the arrival exit gates

There are several main points at Sphinx Airport that you can use to meet someone from the arrival section. After disembarking from the aircraft, the passenger completes the passport control and baggage claim process and heads to the Arrivals Hall exit. Here you will find the official ‘meet & greet’ reception area, as well as taxi, car hire and rideshare (Uber) transport points.

Can I wait in the car to pick someone up at Sphinx Airport?

There is typically no ‘idle lane waiting’ at Sphinx Airport (SPX). The front of the airport is usually a lane reserved for fast passenger drop-off and pick-up. However, ‘parked’ waiting is prohibited here. After the vehicle has stopped, security personnel will direct your vehicle to the parking area for periods exceeding three minutes.

There is a short-term car parking area opposite the terminal building at Sphinx Airport. This area is free of charge for 30 minutes. You can park your car in this area and wait for 30 minutes.

Sphinx Airport Airlines – Contact details

Forgot something on board? Need to contact your airline? Visit our page with all the contact information of the airlines operating at Sphinx Airport.

Transport Options Sphinx Airport Arrivals

Sphinx Airport Car Rental

Sphinx Airport There are offices of car rental companies in the corridor just inside the exit door of the arrival floor. There are offices of companies such as Budget, Avis, Sixt, Hertz, Enterprise, Europcar, National and Green Motion. You can see these offices when you turn right after exiting X-Ray and passport control, leave the duty-free shop area behind and proceed towards the gate with the sign ‘Short-Term Parking’.

The vehicles you have rented will be delivered to you in the Short-Term Parking area just in front of the Arrivals level exit gate. There are numbered bays reserved for each company. For example, car parks numbered 5-10 are allocated for Green Motion customers and car parks numbered 11-15 for Avis.

Have You Booked a Private Transfer?

Booking a private transfer at Sphinx Airport is a convenient and comfortable transport option. For example, Travco Egypt’s VIP ‘Meet & Greet’ service follows your flight number. Immediately after landing, an experienced guide waiting for you with a stylish welcome sign with your name will accompany you to your destination. Rimo Tours offers a flexible waiting time of 30-60 minutes after booking confirmation. Flight delays are automatically tracked. You can pay by credit card or cash at the airport.

At the booking stage, your name, flight number and landing time are requested. Your passport number and contact details are mandatory for quick contact with the driver. After payment confirmation, you will receive transfer details and driver contact details by e-mail and SMS. Your vehicle will be waiting at the designated pick-up zone 20-50 metres from the Arrivals Hall exit gate.

Taxis at Sphinx Airport Arrivals

When you exit the Arrivals Hall of Sphinx Airport, you can see taxis waiting right in front of you, opposite the main gate of the terminal. All vehicles are official taxis approved by the Egyptian Ministry of Transport and carry yellow and black licence plates. Drivers are obliged to use the taximeter which is opened according to the number of passengers before boarding. The average fare to the city centre is between USD 25-35 (approximately EGP 500-700).

In addition, app-based services such as Uber and Careem can be hailed from the ‘Rideshare Pickup’ point in front of the terminal. When you select a car to go to this location, which is marked as ‘SPX Airport’ in the app, you will start your journey according to the map marking sent to you.

You can also use these official taxi and rideshare services that operate 24 hours a day for late night flights. However, during peak periods (08:00-10:00 in the morning and 17:00-20:00 in the evening) you may wait up to half an hour for a taxi.

Buses at Sphinx Airport Arrivals

There is no direct public bus service at Sphinx Airport. Therefore, passengers wishing to travel by bus must first take a taxi or private transfer to Ramses Bus Station in Giza. From Ramses Bus Station, Mwasalat Misr has buses departing every hour. These buses take about 1 hour to get to the city centre or Cairo Airport. The ticket costs about 1 USD.

Alternatively, there are various private shuttle operators at the airport. KiwiBus offers an affordable shared minibus service per person on the SPX-city centre line. Your boarding point is the ‘Shuttle Pickup’ area at the Arrivals Hall exit