Cairo International (CAI): The Complete Layover Guide

Cairo International moved just under 31 million passengers in 2025, more than any other airport in Africa, and it spreads that traffic across three passenger terminals plus a seasonal pilgrimage terminal. Terminal 3, opened in 2009, is the flagship: EgyptAir and most Star Alliance partners fly from here, and it holds the bulk of the lounges. Terminal 2, rebuilt from the ground up and reopened in September 2016, takes many of the big non alliance internationals, including Emirates, Air France, British Airways, and Saudia. Terminal 1, the original 1963 building, handles much of the rest: Gulf carriers, African airlines, and charters. Assignments move around, so check your booking the day you fly.

Getting between buildings is the part nobody warns you about. A free automated people mover links Terminal 1, the Air Mall duty free complex, the car park, Terminal 2, and Terminal 3 along a 1,857 metre line; the airport quotes about five minutes end to end. A free shuttle bus covers the same ground at street level. Both are landside. Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 sit beside each other, while Terminal 1 is on the far side of the airfield, which is why a T1 connection always feels longer than the map suggests.

Airside transfers do exist between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, but they run on Cairo time. The drill: skip the escalators down to immigration, follow signs for connecting flights to the transit desk, hand over your passport, and wait until an officer walks you to an escorted bus or through the connecting corridor. Travelers have reported the whole process taking just under an hour on a good day, and that counts as fast here. Budget 90 minutes for any terminal change, more in the evening departure peak. Connections involving Terminal 1 generally mean going landside, which means passport control or the transit process, then a full security screen at the far end.

If you stay airside on a single ticket, Egypt asks nothing of you: sterile transit needs no visa. Leaving the airport is where the rules start. Most nationalities can buy a visa on arrival at the bank counters before immigration; the fee rose from 25 to 30 US dollars on 1 March 2026, payable in cash. Separately, Egypt runs a free 96 hour transit visa for passengers flying both legs on EgyptAir, Air Cairo, or Nile Air with a layover of 8 to 96 hours, a scheme extended through April 2027 at last report. Both programs shift with little notice, so verify before travel.

The free wifi is real but grudging. The login page wants an SMS code, which is trivial with an Egyptian SIM and awkward without one. Travelers report that typing a foreign number with 00 and the country code in place of the leading zero usually gets the code through, though it is not guaranteed, and any session time limit is to be confirmed. Overnight, the airport stays open and staffed around the clock, but there are no designated rest zones, the lights stay bright, and announcements never stop. The padded seating airside in Terminal 3, reported quietest near Gate E5, is the best of a thin field.

Two things surprise people. The first is how much of the airport runs 24 hours: the Ahlein Premium Lounge in Terminal 3 and the CAC Lounge in Terminal 1 never close, which can rescue an overnight the benches would otherwise ruin. The second is how analog the place still feels. Transit staff hold your passport while you sit and wait, gate areas drop below the main level with thin food options, and taxi drivers need your exact terminal, not just the airport. None of it is dangerous; it is simply slower than the size of the operation implies. Land with patience, cash in small US bills, and a printed itinerary, and CAI is entirely manageable.