Most people who land at SHJ are going one of three places: Sharjah itself, Ajman next door, or Dubai. The first two are easy. Dubai is where timing matters, because the road between Sharjah and Dubai carries one of the heaviest commuter flows in the country. If you’d like a driver waiting in arrivals with your name on a board and a fare agreed before you fly, that’s our Sharjah airport transfer. What follows is what we tell every passenger before they land.
Sharjah International Airport in brief
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Code | SHJ |
| Operator | Sharjah Airport Authority |
| Home airline | Air Arabia, with its head office on airport land |
| Terminals | One passenger terminal, one runway |
| Passengers | About 17.1 million in 2024. Capacity is planned to reach 25 million a year by 2027 |
| Location | About 13 km east-southeast of Sharjah city |
| Taxis | Sharjah Taxi, metered, 24 hours, AED 20 airport surcharge |
| Coaches | Air Arabia coaches to Dubai (Al Ghurair Centre) and Ras Al Khaimah |
Air Arabia dominates the departure boards. Look at what people type into Google after “shj to” and it’s almost all Indian and Pakistani cities: Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Kochi, Kannur, Hyderabad, Islamabad. That’s a fair hint at the airport’s biggest markets.
Arriving at SHJ: from the aircraft to the kerb
There’s one terminal, so there’s no wrong door. The order is the same as anywhere in the UAE.
- Leave the aircraft by air bridge or bus, depending on where it parks.
- Clear passport control. Queues build when several flights land close together.
- Collect your bags from the belt shown on the screens.
- Walk through customs into the arrivals hall.
- Find your driver, the taxi rank or the coach stop.
If you need help, Sharjah Airport’s Hala Services are sold by Sharjah Aviation Services and cover fast-track through immigration and security, porters and a lounge. The airport pitches them at passengers with reduced mobility, older travellers and children flying alone.
Our driver waits in the arrivals hall with a name board. We track the flight, and you get 60 minutes of free waiting from landing, so a slow passport queue isn’t a problem as long as you keep us posted. Our guide to flight delays and pickup waiting time has the exact messages that help most.
The Sharjah to Dubai rush hour problem
On a map, SHJ to Dubai looks like nothing. It’s about 22 km to Dubai International and 38 km to Downtown Dubai. The catch is that many people who live in Sharjah and Ajman work in Dubai. Every working morning they drive south-west into Dubai, and every evening they drive back.
This isn’t new. Back in 2007, Flight International described Air Arabia’s office at Sharjah airport as a 15 km drive from central Dubai “which should take 15 minutes but can take up to two hours during rush hour”. Roads have been widened and new ones built since then, but the pattern is the same.
The main roads into Dubai behave differently. Al Ittihad Road (E11) is the most direct route into Deira and the airport area, passes the two Al Mamzar Salik gates, and in our experience jams first in the morning. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road (E311) runs inland and suits Downtown, Business Bay and the Marina, so it’s often the better choice when the E11 is solid.
Emirates Road (E611) runs further out again. It makes sense for Dubai South, Al Maktoum airport and the far west of the city, even though it looks like a detour on the map.
A good driver picks between these while you’re still collecting your bags, based on live traffic. That’s most of the value of having a local driver on this route.
Timing your landing around Sharjah traffic
We don’t have official hour-by-hour traffic data for this corridor, so treat this as our dispatch desk’s rule of thumb, not a timetable.
| You land | Heading to Dubai | Heading to Sharjah city or Ajman |
|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | Usually clear | Clear |
| 6am to 10am | The slowest direction of the day. Allow plenty of extra time | Busy around schools and offices, but moving |
| 10am to 3pm | The easiest window | Easy |
| 3pm to 9pm | Moving, but Dubai’s own roads get busy from late afternoon | Heavy, as Dubai commuters head home through Sharjah |
| After 9pm | Clears as the evening goes on | Clears as the evening goes on |
If you’re booking Air Arabia and the fares are close, pick the flight that lands late morning rather than first thing. And if you’re flying out of SHJ from Dubai in the evening, leave earlier than the map suggests, because you’re driving with the homeward commuters.
Saturday and Sunday mornings are usually lighter, and school runs make weekday early mornings the worst time inside Sharjah itself.
From SHJ to Sharjah, Ajman and Dubai
Here are road distances and clear-road times from the airport. Distances are measured on OpenStreetMap routing data. Times assume no traffic, so use the timing table above to adjust.
| Destination | Road distance | Off-peak drive |
|---|---|---|
| University City, Sharjah | 7 km | About 10 min |
| Ajman Corniche | 18 km | 20-25 min |
| Al Majaz and Al Qasba, Sharjah | 19-20 km | 20-30 min |
| Dubai International Airport (DXB) | 22 km | 20-25 min |
| Deira City Centre, Dubai | 28 km | 25-35 min |
| Downtown Dubai | 38 km | 35-45 min |
| Dubai Marina | 58 km | 50-60 min |
| Ras Al Khaimah city | 82 km | About 1 hr |
Sharjah city is a short run west, to Al Majaz, Al Qasba and the Corniche hotels. If you’re staying a while and need a driver for the day, that’s our chauffeur service in Sharjah.
Ajman is next door, and the drive rarely gets bad because in the morning you’re heading away from the Dubai commute.
For Dubai hotels in Deira, Al Qusais or Al Nahda, SHJ is often closer than you’d expect. For the Marina or JBR it’s a long run, and if fares are similar you may be better off flying into Dubai International instead. Our Sharjah airport to Dubai page goes through the route district by district.
We also drive from SHJ to Ras Al Khaimah and to Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi run crosses all of Dubai, so the timing table matters twice.
Your options from Sharjah airport compared
| Option | How you pay | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharjah Taxi | Meter, plus an AED 20 airport surcharge | Short trips in Sharjah and Ajman | The meter keeps running in a jam |
| Air Arabia coach to Dubai | AED 20 single | Solo travellers with light bags | Ends at Al Ghurair Centre in Deira, so you need another ride |
| Air Arabia coach to Ras Al Khaimah | AED 30 single | Budget trips north | Ends at the Air Arabia sales shop, not your hotel |
| Pre-booked private car | Fixed fare agreed before the trip | Families, Dubai and RAK trips, late arrivals | Book ahead with your flight number |
The taxi details come from Sharjah Airport’s taxi page: Sharjah Taxi runs 24 hours, fares are metered, there’s the AED 20 surcharge on trips starting at the airport, and ladies and family taxis are available. The airport’s transport page lists the coaches. Dubai coaches leave the airport between 8am and 11.30pm, and Ras Al Khaimah coaches between 8am and midnight. There’s no metro: Dubai Metro doesn’t cross into Sharjah.
On the Dubai run, the Al Ittihad Road route passes the Al Mamzar North and South Salik gates, and if you pass both in the same direction within an hour you’re charged once. Our Salik and Darb toll guide covers the rest.
Tips for SHJ arrivals
Families on Air Arabia often travel with a lot of luggage. For five people and big suitcases, book a van with a driver, not a sedan. Two cars split the family at the kerb, and one of them always waits for the other.
Landing at 3am? It happens a lot here. We answer bookings 24 hours a day on WhatsApp, so you can book or change a pickup from the departure gate.
Connecting to a flight at DXB the same day? Leave much more time than the 22 km suggests, especially in the morning.
