Hurghada Information

Hurghada Airport (international 3 letter code: HRG) was created from the former military airport and is continually expanded since the 1980s. From the UK it takes approximately 5 hours of flight time to reach Hurghada. One hour before arrival in Hurghada, you reach Egypt’s Mediterranean coast with a spectacular view of the transition from the blue of the Mediterranean to the yellow of the desert. About 45 minutes before landing it flies over the Nile Valley. Landing at Hurghada you can see the mountains on the right and a myriad of blue and turquoise tones of the Red Sea on the left . You can see each individual hotel well.
It is recommended to have a pen in your hand luggage as entry cards will be distributed on the plane. On this card you need to fill the flight number, departure airport (3 -letter code , such as DUS, MUC, STR, FRA etc) Name / first name , and place of birth , address in Egypt during the stay (eg " Hotel Giftun , Hurghada" ) and reason for the trip (usually for tourism / Tourism purposes). If you have not received a card, you can also get one at the airport. After landing, the aircraft parked on the airfield. When you get out on the staircase the hot desert climate welcomes you and then take the shuttle bus to the nearby airport building.
The first thing to do here is to get your entry visa. Package tourists usually have the visa included in their holiday price. If this is the case, please contact the representative of your travel agent, who is waiting for his guests with a sign at the entrance of the arrival hall. He will register your arrival and give you further information, ie refer you to the appropriate visa counter. There you will receive your visa in form of a sticker in your passport or on the special card for travelers with ID-Cards. If the visa is not included in the tour price or if you travel individually without tour operators, then it is recommended that after entering the Arrival Hall you turn left to the bank counters. Here you can buy the visa directly at the counter. Present your passport or identity card with a separate passport photo to the employees and he will stick a visa in your passport or on the card and attached the photo and then charges 25 U$.
For EU- citizen a visa for tourism purposes is available upon arrival for a fee of U$ 25 (depending on the exchange rate around 17 €) . Both, passport and identity card must still have at least 6 months validity at the time of arrival. If you travel with an Id-card, a passport photo still needs to be brought along (not mandatory biometric, but current recording). Then you get a special card to which the visa is glued and the passport photo is attached . Additionally you need to enter your personal information on this card.
If the travel visa is not included in the tour price , some tour operators try to collect a so-called " mandatory service fee " in the amount of 30 €, which is payable locally and includes handling , visa fees and airport covers . This is absolute nonsense and just money making : there is no handling , visa and airport taxes , which amount to € 30. Instead, here is just trying to to pull money out of your pocket. No one can force you to buy the visa at the tour operator at an inflated price . Instead you insist on your right that you can get the visa yourself and purchase this at the bank (see above) . You can ignore threats , for example, that in case of non - acquisition of a visa through the travel agent transfer is not being provided, since it is included in the package , and part of the services of tour operators and thus can not be simply denied.
After you have purchased the visa, the passport control is next . The passport control is located in the arrivals hall directly behind the counters of the tour operators. The arrivals hall has 5 baggage carousels , soemtimes two aircrafts are served on the same luggage belt. Which of the belts is" yours " will be displayed on a display panel in Arabic and English. Free baggage carts are available on the left when you enter the hall.
If the passport control took longer than a few minutes, may be some airport employees have already loaded all cases of from the luggage belt and been placed next to it on the ground, in order to avoid overload and blocking. In the same hall the first duty free shops is located that sells alcoholic drinks and cigarettes at normal prices on presentation of passport with current visa . If you have received your luggage , you can go to the exit, which is just past the customs control . the tour guides of the different operators will await you there to inform you about your bus number. The buses are waiting in the large car park which is well marked with flags and signs of tour operators.
Departure When departing from Hurghada airport , there is a security check before the baggage drop off ,so all suitcases are being screened . long queues in front of the control should be expected. Recently there is a so-called VIP service available against charge through which you can shorten the waiting time . If you have passed the inspection, go to the check-in counter of your airline to check the baggage and get boarding passes. Together with the boarding pass you will receive the departure card, which needs to be filled before passport control like the immigration card upon arrival. Present it to immigration officer along with your passport. After passport control, there is another baggage control, similar to the ones at European airports, where the hand luggage is being checked for dangerous objects. Beyond this control the large waiting area in front of the gates awaits you with many duty free shops and souvenirs shops. There are also several cafes, fast food outlets and snack stalls that will help shorten the waiting time . You will be brought To the aircraft by buses and enter the aircraft via stairs.