Popular Airport | Lisbon Portela Airport |
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Popular Airlines | |
Approximate Flight Duration | 10 hour 50 min |
Approximate Travel Distance | 8687 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 have options such as metro, bus, airport shuttle, and taxi and car rental to reach your destination from this airport which is just 7 kilometers from the city center.
The fastest and cheapest way to get to the city center from the airport is taking metro. The red line of the Lisbon metro goes up to the airport and departs every 6 to 9 minutes. The red line starting from the airport stops at "Encarnaçao", "Moscavide", "Oriente", "Cabo Ruivo", "Olivais, Chelas", "Bela Vista", "Olaias", "Alameda" and "Saldanha", and reached Sebastiao station. Some of these stops intersect with the green, yellow and blue lines of the Lisbon metro. You can change to the green line at "Alameda" stop, to yellow line at "Saldanha" stop, and to the blue line at "S. Sebastiao "stop. For example, if you would like to go to the city center, Baixa-Chiado, upon your arrival without going to your hotel, you need to get off at the "Alameda" stop and change to the green line. You can also change to the train line in the city at the Oriente stop and go to other cities of Portugal from here. When you arrive at the city you can explore the metro by taking a metro map or browsing the internet. It is a quite regular system that can take you to many places in the city easily and quickly. The duration of the journey varies depending on your destination. You can get to the financial center in 15 minutes and the city center in 25 minutes on average. The Lisbon metro runs between 6.30 am and 1 am. You have to get one of the pre-paid 7 Colinas or Viva Viagem electronic cards. If you buy a daily or 3-day unlimited use ticket, depending on the length of your stay, you can travel more economically in the city. You can also use these cards in buses.
You can also take advantage of the buses that arrive at the airport's arrival terminals. But you cannot take these buses if you have much luggage. There is a limit on the size of your luggage and you only have one hand luggage allowance. The journey can last about 30 to 50 minutes depending on your destination and the traffic conditions. Nevertheless, if you want to use the bus, bus number 744 works between "Marques Pombal" - "Airport" and "Moscavide" and passes through many important tourist stops of the city every weekday from 5.35 am to 8.40 pm. You can also take a short city tour with this bus. In addition, you can also use buses number 705 (Oriente - Airport - Rome / Areeiro) and 783 (Amoreiras-Airport-Portela), operating between 6.40 am and 8.10 pm, working days only. These buses do not operate at night. After midnight, you can take the bus number 208 which runs between "Cais Sodre" - "Airport" and "Oriente" till 05.30 in the morning. In order to take advantage of the buses, you have to buy the prepaid "7 Colinas" or "Viva Viagem" electronic cards. If you buy a daily or 3-day unlimited use ticket, depending on the length of your stay, you can travel more economically in the city.
If you have a lot of baggage, you can take AEROBUS, airport shuttle that operate between the airport and city center or the financial center every day of the week. You can take the AEROBUS from both terminals of the airport. AEROBUS Line 1 runs between "Airport" and "Cais do Sodre" stops. These buses departing every 20 minutes stop at "Entrecampos", "Compo Pequeno", "Av. REpublica", "Saldanha", "Picoas", "Fontes Pereira de Melo", "Av. Da Liberdade", "Restauradores", "Rossio"(City Center), "P. Comercio", and reach "Cais do Sodre" stop. The shuttle operates between 7 am and 11.20 pm. The AEROBUS Line 2 departs every 40 minutes and after the airport, stops at "Entrecampos", "Catholic University", "Sete Rios", "Praça de Espanha", "Av. Jose Malhoa (Sul)" and reaches “Av. Jose Moalhoa” stop. The working hours for this line are between 7.30 am and 11 pm. After 8 pm, the shuttle does not depart every 40 minutes, but every hour. AEROBUS stops are metro stops at the same time. You can get off at these stops and change to metro. If you are not traveling alone, the fare that you would pay to the taxi might be close to the fare you would pay to AEROBUS. For this reason, we recommend you to compare the fares of these alternatives. Discounts are provided for those travelling as a group of four, to children and to those who buy return ticket. You can buy tickets online, at the bus, or at the airport's arrival terminal.
As soon as you leave the arrival terminal of the airport you can take one of the taxis waiting for the passengers. However, you may encounter the problem of finding a taxi at busy times. In such cases, you can take the elevator to the departure terminal and take a taxi from here. Moreover, you pay less if you get your taxi from the departure terminal. You may need a taxi especially at night, when the metro and AEROBUS shuttles do not operate. Nightly buses remain as an alternative to public transport at night, but there are baggage restrictions in these buses. In Lisbon, airport taxis charge extra per luggage. In addition, at weekends, official holidays and night time fares increase by 20 percent.
If you are evaluating car rental option, which provides you flexibility on your journeys, you can find the offices of Avis, Europcar, Guerin, Hertz and Goldcar car rental companies at Lisbon Airport. If Lisbon is your starting point for your trip in Portugal, which is already a rather small country, and if you are traveling in groups of several people, renting a car may be an even better option. Also remember that you have to pay for many parking areas in the city.