How to Find Your Driver in the Arrivals Hall

From the aircraft to the driver

Three stages sit between touchdown and the moment you see your driver: passport control, the baggage belt, customs. Only after that do the doors open into the public area — and only there is anyone allowed to wait for you. Everything before it is airside, for passengers alone.

This is far and away the commonest reason someone "cannot find" their driver: they are still looking airside, where he cannot be. Walk all the way through first, then start looking.

How to recognise him

By the board with your name on it. Not a company logo, not a uniform — the name you gave when you booked. Which is a good reason to book under the spelling you would actually scan for.

Drivers stand where every meeter stands: facing the exit doors, in the line of waiting boards. At the larger airports that is several dozen people side by side, so walk the line properly rather than hoping to spot it at a glance.

What differs from airport to airport

The procedure is the same at all twelve airports. The hall around it is not.

Airports with two terminals

At Antalya Airport international flights arrive at Terminal 1 or Terminal 2, each with its own arrivals hall, and they sit some distance apart. Your driver waits at whichever terminal your flight comes into — which follows from the flight number you gave when booking, so it is not something you need to work out. İzmir and Dalaman are similar, with international and domestic flights in separate buildings.

Compact halls

At Dalaman and Denizli Çardak the walk from belt to exit is short and the hall is small. When several charter flights land close together it gets busy for half an hour. That is uncomfortable rather than a problem: the driver stays in the same place throughout.

One terminal for everything

At Nevşehir Kapadokya and Ercan everything is under one roof and the belt is a few steps from the exit. People are usually outside faster than they expected to be.

If you do not see him

First: are you actually in the public area, past customs? Second: are you at the right terminal? Only then reach for the phone. You have the driver's number, and we are reachable around the clock on WhatsApp via the contact page. The full procedure, including what not to do while you sort it out, is in what to do if you cannot find your driver.

When it takes longer than you expected

Passport control and baggage reclaim take what they take, and nobody can say in advance whether that is twenty minutes or an hour. It costs you nothing: your driver is dispatched against the actual landing time rather than the hour you booked. What that gap is actually made of is in how long it takes from landing to getting in your vehicle.

If your suitcase does not appear and you have to file a report, ring the driver before you head back. Then he knows you have landed, and waits.

Common questions