Sooner or later it’s time to say goodbye to Tunisia and heads towards home. This time we talk about things that you should know when flying out from Tunis airport. Let’s go through the things you need to do before arriving at the airport and how to get to the Tunis airport. Together with, how much time do you need, and things you need to do at the airport. Read this article through to ensure the smoothest return flight from Tunis airport. Happy reading!
Checklist for flying out from Tunis airport
Before arriving at the Tunis airport
Last time I wrote a little Tunis airport guide for arriving passengers. Now we go through everything about flying out from Tunis airport. First, let’s talk about packing and why it’s important to use the rest of your Tunisian dinars. Second, how to get to the Tunis airport and how much time you need to at the Tunis airport.
Packing correctly
Packing in the right way is the key to successful traveling. I don’t talk only about packing the right pair of shoes and dresses. Might be that packing is a daunting task! I am here to help you, that flying out from Tunis airport to home will be smooth as possible. Pay attention to these four things when packing.
Firstly, check if the product is allowed on a flight. Some of the items are allowed only in hand luggage. Other items need to pack in checked baggage, that will be placed in cargo. There are also products that are completely forbidden. In hand luggage, you can place liquids in containers of less than 100ml. All liquids must fit into a plastic bag with a maximum volume of one liter. At the Tunis airport, you won’t find these plastic bags. But, might be that you can pass the security control without it. Normally, I have packed this kind of plastic bag with me. That ensures that the security control goes smoothly at the next airport as I have to take a couple of flights before getting home.
Find more information easily from the airlines’ website.
Turkish Airlines baggage information
Secondly, pack your baggage correctly. Every airline has its own rules for the number, size, and weight of hand luggage and checked baggage. Following the rules guarantees, that the check-in and boarding will go easily. Everybody wants to avoid extra fees at the airport, right?
Thirdly, check possible custom regulations. Now it’s time for a little bit tricky part as custom regulation. You need to check your countries customs regulations when arriving from Tunisia. For example, I am living in an EU country. That’s why I can’t bring any meat or dairy products from Tunisia to my home country. On some products, there’s a limited quantity of how much I can bring with me. So, check your own countries possible limitations and regulations. Here, you find information about EU regulations.
Fourthly, pay extra attention to consumer electronics and mobile devices. In today’s world, it’s common to have a lot of electronics packed with you. Mobile phones, laptops, cameras, smartwatches, headphones, power banks, and tablets… I always pack all the electronics in my hand luggage. Just to prevent them from getting broken in checked baggage. But, note that any backup power sources in checked baggage, will be removed. Place those in your hand luggage instead. So, pay attention when packing!
Use rest of the Tunisian dinars
Tunisian dinars are called closed currency. Closed currency means that currency is only available in the country in which it is used. It is illegal to bring closed currency into the country and also take it out, too. This means that you can’t purchase Tunisian dinars in advance, from your home country. When leaving Tunisia, the remaining dinars should be used or converted back to your currency.
As it’s strictly prohibited to export Tunisian dinars. The authorities have the right to search you and your belongings at the airport. So, before heading to the airport use most of the remaining dinars. You might need some cash for transportation. A wide range of foreign currencies and debit/credit cards are accepted at the airport. If you plan to buy something at the airport. There’s no need to worry about not having a local currency.
Another option is to exchange remaining Tunisian dinars into other currencies. For this process, it is needed to have a receipt from the bank where the money was withdrawn (receipts from ATMs are not accepted). It’s not possible to convert dinars into other currencies without a receipt. Pay attention that you get a receipt when withdrawing money at the bank.
How to get to the Tunis airport
A stay in Tunisia has come to the end. It’s time for flying out from Tunis airport. So, how to get to the Tunis airport? There are three options: taxi, car, and bus. The distance from the city center to the Tunis airport is 7 km.
Option 1. Take a taxi to Tunis airport
Taking a taxi is very cheap in Tunisia. This is also quite an easy option, once you find an available taxi. Taxi from Tunis city center to Tunis airport will cost about 6-10 dinars and the ride takes about 20minutes. Depending on if you are traveling in day time or evening. After 9 pm the taxis have a 50% surcharge. Note that you need to pay for the baggage also.
Option 2. Order a taxi via Bolt or Yassir
If you are looking for a hassle-free option: order a taxi beforehand. Just download an app Bolt or Yassir on your phone and book a ride. This service is very similar to Uber. I like to use this app. I can follow where the taxi is and how much time it will approximately take. The ride with Bolt and Yassir from Tunis city center to Tunis airport will cost about 10 – 20dinars.
Option 3. Take one of the busses from Tunis city center to Tunis airport.
Catch a bus from Tunis Marine Bus Station. The station is located nearby Avenue Habib Bourguiba. Choose a bus line 35 or 635. The ride takes approximately 25 minutes and costs about 1 Tunisian dinar. Taking a bus is not the most comfortable form of transportation. Especially, not with big luggage and possible hot weather. If you are not staying in Tunis. Ask a receptionist if there’s a direct bus connection to the Tunis airport.
Option 4. A shuttle bus from the hotel to the airport
Most of the holiday packages include shuttle bus transportation. The shuttle bus will wait for you at the airport when you arrive. After the holiday, pick you up from the hotel and drop you back at the airport. Those are super convenient! If your holiday package isn’t including a shuttle bus. Contact the hotel and ask for it. For sure they can organize some kind of transportation to the airport.
Option 5. A car ride to the airport
Maybe you have rented a car from the airport and you are going to return it to the same place. Might be you know someone who could drop you at the airport. Going by car is super handy, especially if you have a lot of luggage to carry. The ride takes about 20 minutes from the Tunis city center to the Tunis airport. Normally, during the daytime, there’s more traffic than in the early mornings and evenings.
How much time do you need at the Tunis airport?
The Tunis Carthage is the official airport of the capital Tunis region. The international airport is busy, especially on touristic high-season. A couple of factors need to take into account. When answering the question of how much time do you need at the Tunis airport?
The Tunis airport has only one terminal. The good thing about this is that the distances to the gates are rather short, and you don’t lose time when shuttling between the terminals. The bad thing is that congestion is formed rapidly. Particularly on tourist high-season congestions are fairly common at the Tunis airport.
For safety reasons, all the luggage is x-rayed before entering the terminal building. Might be that there’s no one in the security screening line, and the screening will be quickly done. The worst-case scenario is that you need to stand in the line for an hour or more. Normally, it has gone very smoothly for me. Once we were standing in line for an hour and we almost missed our flight.
Everybody who travels from Tunis airport must pass the immigration area/ authority formalities. Even if, you are traveling inside Tunisia. This is another spot, where congestion is easily formed. So, when you have done check-in and dropped your luggage proceed immediately to the authority formalities.
So, how much time do you need? Let’s sum it up. According to the official Tunis Airport website. It’s recommended to be present at the Tunis airport, two hours before the scheduled departure time. Take into account, if it is a high or low tourist season in Tunisia. In high season, spare an extra 1 hour for possible congestion. If there are not many departing aircraft. Might be that all the formalities take only 30 minutes and you are at the departure gate.
Flying out from Tunis airport: At the Tunis airport
Security screening before entering the terminal building
Since 2019, only passengers with flight tickets are allowed to enter the Tunis airport. Also, all the luggage is x-rayed before entering the terminal building. During, the high tourist seasons this procedure might take almost an hour if the service is congested. If there is no one in the line. You will pass through very fast. The security screening is done with a bigger x-ray machine. So, the process isn’t taking nearly as much time as the official security control inside the airport.
Check-in at Tunis airport
Tunis airport starts to be a rarity as the check-in needs to be done at the airport. The only option is to use a personal check-in service at the airport. The check-in can’t be done beforehand online, and there are no check-in machines at the airport. Normally, doing a check-in hasn’t taken too long. Call me old-fashioned, but actually, it’s very refreshing to get face-to-face service.
Tip: The check-in goes even faster when you have packed correctly. You don’t lose time and money for paying extra fees because of an oversized or too many luggage.
Immigration area
As I mentioned before. Everybody who travels from Tunis airport must pass the immigration area. After the check-in is done proceed immediately to the authority formalities. Pick up a little white card before entering into the line. The card needs to be filled for border authorities. You find these cards on the tables before the lines. Having your own pen will help the process. The card includes a couple of questions and some personal information.
Tip: During the high tourist season, congestion easily forms in this area. The process might take almost one hour. Sometimes there’s no one else, and you can proceed very fast.
Security control at Tunis airport
Directly, after the authority formalities follows the security control at Tunis airport. You and all of your belongings must pass through a security check. Before entering the departure area. As I mentioned above, the right kind of packing ensures that you will pass the security control smoothly.
Shortly, all the hand baggage and loose items must pass the x-ray scanning. Place all the loose items on a plastic tray and empty your pockets. Remove also coat and might be that shoes need to be taken off. It’s advisable to remove all metal items, like a watch and belt. Additionally, place on the plastic tray all the electronic devices and possible liquid items. And walk through the metal detector gate.
All the forbidden items will be removed and handed over to staff. At this point, you should not have Tunisian dinars with you anymore. Now, it’s also difficult to leave the security control and return to the check-in area to check-in your hand baggage. So, pay attention that you do not have any forbidden items in your hand baggage, especially something that you would not like to lose.
Find your gate
After the security control, it’s time to find your gate. Check the boarding gate for your connecting flight on the Departing flights’ screens. Follow the gate number signs and proceed to your boarding gate. Wait for boarding to start and I wish you happy flights!
Over to you! Hopefully, this little article Flying out from Tunis airport will make your travel a bit smoother. Now it’s your turn to share. Is there something you would like to add? Or what are your best tips to ensure smooth traveling? Until next time! Bye!
