Luxor Airport: getting to town, flights, trains and buses

1. 01

   Get your visa

   Buy a visa on arrival at the kiosks before immigration: US$30, cash only.

2. 02

   Keep hold of your bags

   People will grab your luggage to 'help' you, so keep a firm grip.

3. 03

   Skip the door touts

   Drivers and touts outside the doors charge US$10–20: ignore them.

4. 04

   Agree the taxi fare first

   No public bus runs to town and taxis have no meters; the fare should be no more than EGP 300.

5. 05

   Ride into town

   The city centre is about 6 km away, with most hotels on the East Bank.

If haggling at the rank wears thin, you have a fallback: Uber doesn’t work in Luxor, but its sister app Careem does¹.

Most hotels are on the East Bank, along with Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, the museums and the trains¹. Pick your base with the guide to Luxor accommodation by budget and traveller type.

Which airlines fly into Luxor?

Wikipedia’s airlines table for the airport lists these carriers:

• Aegean Airlines, Air Cairo, easyJet, Edelweiss Air, EgyptAir, Jazeera Airways, Kuwait Airways, Luxair, Neos and Nesma Airlines¹³
• Nile Air, Pegasus Airlines, Petroleum Air Services, Sundair, Transavia, TUI Airways, TUI fly Belgium, TUI fly Deutschland and Vueling¹³

Luxor Airport isn’t a giant. The terminal has 48 check-in desks, 8 gates and 5 baggage belts, and a 2005 upgrade let it handle up to 8 million passengers a year¹³.

Can you fly direct to Luxor from the UK?

Yes: easyJet flies from London Gatwick¹⁴, and TUI Airways from Manchester and London Gatwick¹⁵. TUI says direct flights take around five to five and a half hours¹⁶.

The easyJet route started on 11 November 2024¹⁴ and runs seasonally¹³. TUI also warns that direct flights aren’t always available and many routes stop over, usually in Cairo, which stretches the trip to seven to nine hours or more¹⁶.

Visa and passport rules

Egypt sets the entry rules, not Luxor, and they depend on your passport. For British travellers, GOV.UK’s Egypt travel advice says:

• you normally need a visa⁷;
• kiosks before the immigration counters sell a physical visa on arrival, valid for up to 30 days⁷;
• an e-visa in advance can help prevent delays and lasts up to 3 months⁷;
• your passport needs at least 6 months left after arrival and at least one blank page⁷.

Egypt’s official e-Visa portal says to apply at least 7 days before departure and pay online by Visa card, MasterCard or other debit cards¹⁷. Passport officers can check your e-visa on their system¹⁸ when you land.

Other passports have their own rules:

• Irish: tourists can usually get a visa on arrival; the free Sinai entry stamp doesn’t cover Luxor, and passport cards can’t be used¹⁹.
• Canadian: an e-visa before travel or a 30-day visa on arrival, paid in US dollar cash; the Taba border stamp covers the Sinai only⁶.

If you change planes in Cairo, from 1 August 2026⁷ you can also buy a digital visa on arrival there, from self-service machines or the Visa on Arrival portal.

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs advises its citizens to arrive by air when travelling to tourist areas on the Nile such as Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel¹⁹. The UK FCDO is just as frank about overland travel:

• road accidents are common¹², because of variable road conditions, dangerous driving and poor traffic law enforcement;
• serious bus crashes in recent years have killed many people, including tourists¹²;
• there have also been fatal train collisions and derailments¹².

The FCDO advice was updated on 4 August 2026, and it lists Luxor and the Valley of the Kings as exceptions²⁰ to its Western Desert warning.

Watch the weather on early road trips. On 23 October 2026²¹, see.news reported that Egypt’s Meteorological Authority warned of morning fog that could turn dense on some roads in northern Upper Egypt.

Questions people ask