Tunis airport guide for arriving passengers - The Tunisian Way (2024)

Whether you have a holiday, overnight sleepover, or you are just quickly passing through Tunisia. This article is a great place to start planning your visit. I wanted to create a Tunis airport guide for arriving passengers. Here, you’ll find information on Tunis airport, passenger route, things to do at the airport, transportation, and services. Welcome to Tunis-Carthage international airport!

Every year millions of people travel to through Tunis-Carthage airport. The Tunis airport is located 8 kilometers from the capital of Tunis. This round-shaped airport has only one terminal. The domestic flights connect Tunis with other Tunisian cities. The international flights take passengers to Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and other continents. Multiple airlines operate from and to Tunis: Tunisair, Lufthansa, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Tui, and many more.

Tourism is one of the most important sources of income for Tunisia. Therefore, Tunisia has taken a great responsibility to ensure that the Tunis airport is as safe as possible. Flight safety and the safety systems associated with it are based on national and international regulations. In addition, some noticeable actions you can see also at the airport. For example, all the baggage is x-ray scanned before entering the airport, and during touristic high season, only people with a flight can enter the airport.

The airport is rather small, so getting lost is quite difficult. But I would advise you to be prepared for some congestion when departing and arriving at the airport.

Route for arriving passenger at Tunis airport

When you exit the aircraft and enter the terminal, go in the direction of the luggage reclaim hall. First, you will arrive in the immigration/ passport control area. Before entering the line, you need to fill up a little white card. (UPDATE: the white cards aren’t needed anymore, so you may proceed to passport control directly) This card is needed for a tourist stamp. Sometimes these cards are handed during the flight. Otherwise, you find those from the tables in front of the passport control. To make this process easy for you, take your pen with you. In passport control be prepared to present this white card and passport.

After passport control, all the hand baggage must be placed in x-ray scanning. This process is over very fast. Then you will arrive in the luggage reclaim hall. Once you have picked up your luggage from the conveyor belt. Go and pass through the customs. Check Tunisian custom regulation here.

The First things to do at the Tunis airport

Get Tunisian dinars

The first thing to do when you get to the arrival hall is to get some local currency. The currency in Tunisia is called the dinar. The Tunisian dinars are called closed currency which means that currency is only available in Tunisia. You can’t purchase Tunisian dinars in advance from your home country and bring those to Tunisia. Actually, it’s illegal to import and export Tunisian dinars.

So, you will need cash as it’s still the most used payment method in Tunisia. The cash is needed for transportation, restaurants, cafes, kiosks, etc. At the Tunis airport, you will find banks to exchange currency and ATMs to withdraw money. Most of the time, airports are the worst place to exchange money because the exchange rate isn’t good. So, my advice for the airport is to exchange a small amount of money (just for transportation). If possible don’t exchange at all. Instead of converting the currency, I prefer to use ATM. Normally I withdraw a bit larger number of dinars for once, so I don’t need to pay excessive fees.

Here you find more information on money-related topics:

Travel budget guide – Is Tunisia expensive or cheap?

Tunis airport services that might be needful for you

After getting some local currency, you might want to buy a sim card and some internet for your phone. This kind of service can be bought from airport stores as Orange Tunisia, Ooredoo, and Tunisie telecom. Most of the time, I use just the Wi-Fi offered by the hotel, restaurants, and other public providers. Wi-Fi is also available inside the airport. But if you want to be reachable all the time, then the sim card might become handy.

Other available services at the Tunis airport are the information desk, post office, lounge, stores, cafes and restaurants, power sockets, police, luggage scales and wrapping, tax refund, toilets, prayer rooms, and smoking area.

So, how to get from the Tunis airport to Tunis or elsewhere in the country? From the Tunis airport, it’s easy to reach Tunis city center and elsewhere in Tunisia. You can continue your trip from Tunis airport, easily by taxi, car or bus. The airport isn’t connected to the train network, but you can take other transportation to get to the central train station.

For me, a taxi is the best way to continue the trip from the Tunis airport. It’s an easy, cheap, and fast option. Various taxi agencies operate between the airport and Tunis city center, other nearby cities and towns. Tunis airport has only one terminal and taxis are waiting in front of the terminal building. You will also find white tourist taxis that provide long-distance journeys or take you to specific hotels.

Before entering the taxi, it’s better to discuss the price. You don’t need to worry about scams, but just that you know how much it will cost approximately. During the journey, remember to check that a taximeter is working. Note that you need to pay for the baggage and after 9 pm the taxis have a 50% surcharge.

The fastest option is to order a taxi beforehand. The taxi will be waiting, and you can hop in the taxi directly after your flight. Many hotels also offer a pick-up service for their customers. Another option is to download apps Bolt or Yassir on your phone which are similar to Uber.

There are multiple car-rental companies located at the arrival hall of the Tunis airport. You can rent a car when at the airport. Pre-book a rental car by calling the car-rental company or from their website. Renting a car is one of the best ways to discover Tunisia and there is a variety of rental cars that suit every taste. After all, renting a car is quite affordable.

The busses drop passengers at the airport. But if you are looking for a bus to continue a trip from the Tunis airport, it’s a little bit complicated, especially with the luggage. You need to walk for some distance to catch the SNT or TUT busses. That takes you to the center of Tunis or the other cities. Busses are very cheap but not the most comfortable way to travel.

Most of the time, the package holidays include bus transportation from the airport to the hotel.

I hope you have enjoyed this Tunis airport guide for arriving passengers. I also created a little Tunis airport checklist that see you below. Next time I will share a guide for departing passengers. Meanwhile, happy and safe traveling folks!