Layovers and airports

Suvarnabhumi Airport

At Bangkok, the useful question is not how long you have, but whether your next flight is international or domestic. A domestic flight takes you into Thailand, dive bag included.

Mactan Cebu International Airport

At Cebu, your international flight and domestic flight meet, but the terminals do not connect airside. Changing buildings means going landside, on foot or by shuttle, with all your kit.

Hong Kong International Airport

You can have a hot shower or go into the city at Hong Kong. You cannot find a bed airside: sleeping properly means entering Hong Kong.

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport

Jakarta is where you change for Manado, Sorong and Ambon in other words, much of Indonesian diving beyond Bali.

Krabi International Airport

Krabi serves the same beaches as Phuket, only smaller and barer: no lounge you can buy by the hour, no hotel within walking distance here everything happens twenty kilometres away, by…

Denpasar I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport

Bali is more than a destination: it is the route onwards to Komodo, Bunaken and Raja Ampat.

Sam Ratulangi International Airport

One terminal for every flight, which simplifies life no end but Indonesia has tightened its visa rules, and a UK passport now needs a Visitor Visa to step out at Manado, exemption or…

Ninoy Aquino International Airport

Manila has four terminals, with no airside connection between them.

Lombok International Airport

One terminal serves Bali, the Gilis and all of northeast Bali but visa-free transit here has a hard limit: 8 hours, and only if you never leave the international zone.

Narita International Airport

At Narita, any lounge you can buy access to sits beyond immigration.

Bohol-Panglao International Airport

One terminal, no classic lounge to speak of but getting into the Philippines here is far more straightforward than picking your way through Manila's four terminals.

Phuket International Airport

Two terminals sit barely 200 metres apart at HKT, but there's no airside link between them: switch from an international flight to a domestic one and you're out through immigration,…

Incheon International Airport

At Incheon, you can shower, sleep and even take a Seoul tour without paying for the basics. The catch is simple: your flights may use different terminals, and the shuttle runs landside.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

At Kuala Lumpur, your layover comes down to one question: do both flights leave from the same terminal?

Singapore Changi Airport

Changi is the rare hub where waiting need not feel punitive. The catch is that Jewel’s waterfall is landside, beyond immigration.

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

At Taoyuan, you get free showers around the clock and a guided half-day tour if your connection allows. It is also the only Asian hub on this list where both terminals connect airside.

Tokyo Haneda International Airport

Haneda is one of the few hubs where you can book a proper room airside.

Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Once you have cleared immigration, Atlanta is the smoothest of the American hubs: seven concourses linked airside by a free train.

Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport

At Belize City, the airport fits into one building and you can walk across it in a few minutes; the real question is what you will do with the hours left in a terminal where almost…

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

At DFW, a free train links all five terminals airside, and two hotels sit in the terminal buildings themselves. The American catch remains: your connection is an entry into the country.

José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport

If you are flying on to the Galápagos, Guayaquil has one non-negotiable bit of admin before check-in: collect your Transit Control Card and have your baggage inspected.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

Houston puts Roatán, Belize and Costa Rica within reach. Once you have cleared immigration, two free trains do the moving but the airport’s only shower is chargeable.

Mexico City Benito Juárez International Airport

Mexico puts Cozumel and the Sea of Cortez within reach. Its two terminals do not connect airside, however, and the train between them stops at 23 hours.

Miami International Airport

In the United States, a connection is not treated as transit: even when you are changing aircraft for Bonaire or Roatán, you enter the country.

Juan Santamaría International Airport

Your flight to Drake Bay leaves from another terminal, reached on foot along the pavement. It is a five-minute walk, but only after immigration, customs and another check-in.

Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport

San Pedro Sula fits into one building but Roatán and Utila still require another flight or a ferry, and a British passport holder must have a Honduran visa BEFORE departure, not on…

Tocumen International Airport

Tocumen has something most US hubs do not: a free airside shuttle between its two terminals, with no immigration involved. It stops at 21 h.

Auckland International Airport

Auckland gives you free showers and unlimited Wi-Fi. In return, it requires the one thing you cannot sort out at the airport: electronic travel authorisation before departure, even for…

Brisbane International Airport

Brisbane is where you change for Cairns and the Whitsundays, but its international and domestic terminals are 4 km apart.

Nadi International Airport

At Nadi, everything sits in one building and your connection to the islands is on foot. It is probably the Pacific’s least complicated hub.

La Tontouta International Airport

At La Tontouta, you can walk through the single terminal, so your passport is the real issue: you can enter without a visa for up to 3 months, but it must have been issued less than 10…

Perth International Airport

Perth is your way towards Ningaloo, but its four terminals sit in two groups separated by a 15-minute road journey. Your flight to the reef is quite likely leaving from the other side.

Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport

In Australia, visa-free transit ends at 8 hours, even if you stay airside. Beyond that, you need an electronic travel authority before you leave home.

Addis Ababa Bole International Airport

If you qualify, the airline can provide your hotel, meals, transfers and transit visa. That matters here, because leaving the airport requires a visa.

Julius Nyerere International Airport

You use Dar es Salaam to reach Zanzibar, Mafia or Pemba. It is also one of the few airports on this list where a European passport does not get you in freely: you need a visa, obtained…

O.R. Tambo International Airport

You cross Johannesburg on foot under one roof, which is rare enough to mention. The problem is not distance; it is the transfer security check.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

You need electronic travel authorisation to enter Nairobi, and it must be approved BEFORE you leave, not on arrival. Sort that before worrying about anything else.

Zayed International Airport

Since 2023, Abu Dhabi has operated from one new terminal: no shuttle, no change of building. There is one catch: your minimum connection time depends on whether you remain with Etihad.

Hamad International Airport

Doha is the stopover where the waiting has to be planned: past six hours, everything turns on a visa question, and the answer depends on your passport.

Dubai International Airport

DXB runs round the clock across 2,000 hectares, with almost everything you might need except a decent free sleep.

Muscat International Airport

You can leave Muscat from a six-hour layover, and the airport states it plainly.

Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport

Fort-de-France is a manageable airport, but Martinique is French territory outside the Schengen Area: even a European passport goes through border control if you leave airside.

Maryse Condé International Airport

Two terminals, no confirmed shuttle between them, and a French territory outside Schengen where even a European passport goes through border control to reach landside.

Ivato International Airport

Tananarive is the unavoidable stop for Nosy Be and your onward flight is domestic, so you must enter Madagascar. There is no transit visa here: you need a tourist visa.

Velana International Airport

At Velana, your stopover is measured not just in hours but in daylight: seaplanes stop flying after mid-afternoon. If your flight lands at 16 h, you are not transferring onwards.

İstanbul Airport

At Istanbul, everything sits beneath one roof, which sounds convenient until you find yourself walking kilometres with a regulator bag.