Sharjah Airport taxi or private transfer?

Sharjah Airport taxi: how it works

Licensed taxis wait at the rank outside the arrivals hall at Sharjah International. They are regulated by Sharjah’s Roads and Transport Authority (SRTA) and run on the meter. You join the queue and take the next car.

It is simple, and most of the time it works. The queue is the weak point. When several flights land close together, often late at night, the rank can back up badly. Card payment is common in UAE taxis, but if you can’t pay cash, ask before you set off.

Sharjah airport taxi booking in advance is possible too. Sharjah’s taxi operators take bookings through their own apps and phone lines, and SRTA lists the current options. Check whether a pre-booked car meets you inside the terminal or only at the rank.

What a Sharjah Airport taxi costs

Sharjah airport taxi charges are made up of a few parts:

• a starting fare, higher at the airport than for a car hailed in the street
• the meter, which counts distance and time spent in slow traffic
• an extra fixed charge when the trip ends in another emirate, such as Dubai
• Salik, if the route passes a Dubai toll gate

SRTA sets the tariff and revises it from time to time, so we won’t print a rate per kilometre that may be out of date when you land. What we can give is a rough idea of the whole trip, worked out from typical distances. These are our estimates for one car, outside the rush hour. They are not the official tariff.

A jam on Al Ittihad Road can push the Dubai fares well past these figures. For a live number, use the operator’s app estimate or ask the driver before you leave the rank.

When the taxi is the right answer

One to three people with normal luggage, going to Sharjah, Ajman or Deira? Take the taxi. It leaves when you do, and booking a van for two would cost you more. The same goes for quiet times of day, when cars are waiting and there is no queue at all.

Where taxis stop working: groups

A taxi takes four passengers, and its boot holds two large suitcases, sometimes three. Groups don’t come in that shape.

Ten people with ten cases need three or four cars. Each runs its own meter. They leave the rank minutes apart and reach the hotel at different times, and someone in every car has to pay. If one driver goes to the wrong entrance, the group leader spends the first hour of the trip on the phone.

Larger taxis do exist. You just can’t count on one being at the front of the rank when your group walks out.

Worked examples

Example: a couple going to Al Majaz. One taxi, around AED 40 to 60. Don’t book anything.

Example: a family of six to Downtown Dubai with six suitcases. That is two taxis, so around AED 200 to 280 between them and two separate arrivals. A 7-seater van takes them together. For comparison, the typical market range for a private sedan between Dubai and Sharjah Airport is AED 120 to 220 one way.

Example: twelve colleagues to Business Bay with twelve cases. Three or four taxis at around AED 100 to 140 each comes to roughly AED 300 to 560, paid in four separate goes. One Sprinter minibus takes everyone and the bags on one quote.

Example: thirty tour guests for hotels in Dubai Marina. Eight taxis or more, roughly AED 1,100 to 1,500, and a long wait while the cars come in. One 35-seater coach with luggage holds is the obvious answer.

For scale, our 13-seater van starts from AED 450 per day and our 50-seater coach from AED 650 per day, for a full day of up to 10 hours within Dubai. A single airport run is quoted per journey, in writing, before you confirm. Put it next to the taxi sums above and decide.

Booking a taxi vs booking a transfer

A taxi needs no planning. That is its whole appeal. A transfer takes about five minutes to set up: flight number, landing time, headcount, number of large bags and the drop-off address. In return the flight is tracked, the driver is already in arrivals with a name board when you come through, and nobody queues. Our Sharjah Airport transfer page explains the arrival step by step.

Ride-hailing apps work in parts of the UAE, but pick-up rules at airports vary. Check the app before you fly, not at the kerb. Landing at Dubai International or Dubai World Central instead? See airport group transfers.

Other ways out of Sharjah Airport

Public buses link the airport with Sharjah’s city bus network, and intercity buses leave Al Jubail bus station for Dubai and the other emirates. It is the lowest-cost route and the slowest with suitcases; our guide to Sharjah to Dubai by bus covers it. Air Arabia has offered coach connections to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for its own passengers, so ask the airline when you book the flight. Some hotels collect their guests too.

Going on to Abu Dhabi? Two hours on a taxi meter gets expensive, and a group needs several cars. Our Sharjah to Abu Dhabi bus hire page covers the group option.

The two-minute decision

One to three people with light bags: taxi. Four to six with suitcases: compare two taxis with one van, and think about whether you want to arrive together. Seven or more, or anyone travelling with children, kit or a tight schedule: book the transfer. Still unsure? Ask for a quote through the booking form and compare it with the table above.

Related: Sharjah Airport transfers · Sharjah to Abu Dhabi · Sharjah to Dubai by bus · Airport Group Transfers · Get a quote

Keep reading

• Sharjah Airport transfers: Arrival pick-ups and departures at Sharjah International for groups, in vans, minibuses and coaches.
• Sharjah to Dubai by bus: How the public buses between Sharjah and Dubai work, where they struggle at rush hour, and when a private bus is worth it.
• Bus rental Sharjah: Vans, minibuses and 30 to 50-seat coaches with drivers, collecting from anywhere in Sharjah.
• Sharjah to Abu Dhabi: A private van, minibus or coach between Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, including Sharjah Airport transfers in both directions.
• Sharjah to Dubai staff transport: Daily staff routes from Sharjah and Ajman into Dubai, on a fixed monthly timetable with a regular driver.
• Van & minibus rental with driver: V-Class, HiAce and Sprinter vans plus 30-seat minibuses, each with a driver, for Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and the rest of the UAE.