Guides for Ben Gurion Airport travellers
Updated
Terminals, arrivals, Shabbat landings and the local rules visitors ask about.
These guides answer the practical questions of travellers using Ben Gurion Airport (TLV). Some take you through the airport itself, departing from Terminal 3 or the reopened Terminal 1 and landing at Terminal 3. Others cover the trip onward, to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, after a Shabbat landing when the train does not run, and in a country Uber left in 2023. The rest explain local rules, from tipping to car seats in taxis. Each guide lists its sources and the date they were checked.
Inside the airport
Terminal 1 reopened at the end of June 2026, so Ben Gurion has two passenger terminals again. Before anything else, check which one your flight leaves from.
- Leaving from Terminal 3
Everything from the level 3 drop-off to the gate, in order: security questioning, check-in and bag drop, hand-luggage screening and passport control. It also covers the Zone W lane for hand luggage only and VAT refunds for tourists. See leaving Israel from Ben Gurion Terminal 3, step by step.
- Flying from Terminal 1
Domestic flights to Ramon Airport near Eilat and some international departures use Terminal 1, and a few airlines fly from both terminals. The guide shows how to check yours and how to reach the other terminal if you are at the wrong one. See Ben Gurion Airport Terminal 1: who flies from it and how to reach Terminal 3.
- Landing at Terminal 3
Every international flight lands at Terminal 3, even if you left Israel from Terminal 1. The guide covers border control and the entry card visitors receive instead of a stamp, baggage claim, the green and red customs lanes and the ways out of the greeters’ hall. See arriving at Ben Gurion Airport: from the plane to your ride.
Leaving the airport
- To Jerusalem
About 50 km by road. The guide compares the train to Yitzhak Navon station, bus 485, the shared sherut, a rental car and a pre-booked taxi, and shows which of them stop for Shabbat. See Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem: train, bus, sherut, car or taxi.
- To Tel Aviv
About 23 km by road. The train runs from under Terminal 3 to four Tel Aviv stations and bus 445 goes to the city centre, but neither runs on Shabbat. The guide sets them beside the taxi apps and a taxi booked ahead. See Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv: train, bus, app or pre-booked taxi.
- Sharing a sherut
A sherut is a shared taxi on a fixed route, where each passenger pays for one seat at a fare set in the official price order. The guide explains how it differs from a private taxi that takes you door to door. See what is a sherut, and how is it different from a private taxi.
- Landing on Shabbat or a holiday
Planes keep landing from Friday evening to Saturday night, but the airport train does not run. The guide explains what still works in the terminal, when our taxis set out again and which festival days in 2027 work the same way. See landing at Ben Gurion on Shabbat or a Jewish holiday.
- Without Uber
Uber stopped offering rides in Israel in June 2023. The guide explains how visitors get a licensed taxi instead and when booking ahead is simpler. See is there Uber in Israel.
Car seats and tipping
- Car seats in a taxi
Regulation 83A of the Traffic Regulations requires a child seat up to age 3 and a seat or booster up to 8, but taxis are among the vehicles it leaves out. The guide quotes the rule, explains why a seat is still the safer choice and how to ask for one. See taxi with kids in Israel: what the car seat law says.
- Tipping the driver
Taxi drivers in Israel do not expect a tip, and many passengers simply round the fare up. The same guide covers restaurants, where the custom is different. See tipping taxi drivers in Israel.
Quick answers from the guides
- Arriving for an international flight
- 3 hours before departure, as the Israel Airports Authority advises
- Arriving for a domestic flight
- 2 hours before take-off
- International arrivals
- Terminal 3, for every international flight
- Flights to Ramon Airport (Eilat)
- Terminal 1
- Train from the airport
- Lower level of Terminal 3, no service on Shabbat
- Ben Gurion to Jerusalem
- About 50 km by road
- Child seat in a taxi
- Not required by law, still the safer choice
- Tipping a taxi driver
- Not expected, rounding up is welcome
- Uber in Israel
- No rides since June 2023
Where our taxi fits in
The guides describe every way to and from the airport, our taxis included. On the way to a flight, our driver drops you at the level 3 departures entrance of Terminal 3 or at the front of Terminal 1. After you land, the station tracks your flight and the driver agrees the meeting point with you by phone or WhatsApp. Booking details are on the Ben Gurion Airport taxi page, and the ride to the capital on the Jerusalem airport taxi page.
Child seats for every age come with the car when you ask for them in the booking. The station works 24 hours a day from Sunday to Friday and keeps Shabbat, so Friday rides end before it begins and rides start again once it is over.
Questions and answers
Which guide should I read before my flight home from Israel?
Start with the Terminal 3 departures guide, then check your flight’s terminal on the flight board or in your airline’s app. If it leaves from Terminal 1, read the Terminal 1 guide as well.
I am meeting someone off a flight. Which guide helps?
The arrivals guide follows a passenger from the aircraft to the greeters’ hall, so you know what they are going through while you wait outside. It also explains how our drivers arrange the meeting by phone or WhatsApp.
Who writes these guides?
The team at Bazman Taxi, a taxi station founded in 2006. The facts come from the sources listed in each guide, and if an airport notice says something different, the notice wins.
Can I read the guides in Russian or French?
The Terminal 3 arrivals guide, getting to Jerusalem, car seats in taxis and landing on Shabbat are also written in Russian and French. Switch the site language to find them.
How current is the information?
Every guide shows when its facts were last checked, most recently in October 2026. Airport arrangements change, as the reopening of Terminal 1 in summer 2026 showed, so read the Israel Airports Authority notices close to your flight.
Book on WhatsApp or by phone
Send us where from, where to and when on WhatsApp, and the taxi will be there on time.