How to stay overnight at Sharjah Airport?

How to comfortably and inexpensively spend the night at Sharjah Airport? Is it possible to sleep there? Is there internet and outlets?

I am a travel instructor and fly to Nepal at least twice a year. This spring, after a two-year break, I had the opportunity to fly to Kathmandu not through Dubai (with flydubai), but through Sharjah (with AirArabia). In principle, I knew about the main features of this airport and was ready for them. But something surprised me and prompted me to write this article.

Login to the terminal

Unlike Dubai Airport, in Sharjah you do not go through a scanner at the entrance to the terminal. We got off the plane, rode the bus, went into the terminal and that’s it. Here it is, a dütik, a waiting room and a tavern. The scanner, however, will still be there, but much later - when boarding is announced and you go to the gate (more on that below).

In the meantime, you can have fun. I usually start the cultural program at the airport by looking for drinking water

Water

Unlike the already mentioned Dubai airport, there is no drinking fountain in Sharjah - you have to buy water. In the process of searching for inexpensive water, I discovered a wonderful local rule:

The minimum purchase amount that can be paid by card is 10 dirhams ($2.7).

A 0.5 liter bottle of water costs 2 dirhams in vending machines, and 3 dirhams in the food court. Occasionally there are also large one and a half liter bottles, but there is little point in buying them - there is no advantage in price, and drinking one and a half liters per night can be a bit difficult. In addition, it is far from certain that a large bottle will be allowed through the scanner when you board. Half-liter ones are most often missed; you don’t even have to hide them too much.

Food

The terminal has a food court with traditional establishments - McDonald's, Chinese cuisine, Indian cuisine, pizzeria, ice cream. The average price of a main dish is about 20 dirhams. Small hotdog from 7, gamurger 12-15 dirhams. In duty-free, I didn’t notice any food other than chocolate and dates, but I could be wrong. By the way, the price level for food on AirArabia planes is exactly the same - 3 dirhams for a bottle of water, 25 dirhams for a large portion of Chicken Biryani rice.

Currency exchange

There are ATMs and several exchange offices at the airport. In exchange offices the rate is more or less normal, they do not charge a commission. To buy water, I literally needed a couple of dirhams, and to get them I went to the exchange with 10 dollars. I only asked to exchange 5 of them and surprisingly were not sent anywhere. After the wonderful requirement of “at least 10 AED to pay with a credit card,” I was ready for similar quirks in currency exchange.

Internet

There is an open Wifi network at Sharjah airport, but you will not be able to connect to it, since this requires a local (UAE) phone number.

Electricity

There are few outlets in the waiting area, but they are there. I'll look at the plug format on the way back. I myself prefer to charge from a power bank. And since we are talking about “banks,” they are still allowed on board, although the inconceivable nickel-metal hydride Lithium free power bank for 3800 mAh for $62 has already appeared in the airplane “shop.” Rave? Maybe. But such a drive “meets the latest security standards for carry-on and checked baggage.”

Place to sleep

This is the most painful topic and it is for this reason that this article was originally conceived. The general waiting area at Sharjah airport is very small and always crowded. Chairs with non-reclining armrests, you won’t be able to lie down on them. The floor is not carpeted, as before (or like at the Dubai airport), but cold tiles.

Knowing all this in advance, I took with me (in my hand luggage) a tiny travel mat (170 g) and a light “silk” sleeping bag liner. All that remains is to find a suitable place to lie quietly on the floor and not be trampled on.

I wandered around a bit, looking for somewhere to hang out and eventually found a secluded corner in the Family zone. It is slightly separated from the main waiting room and is much less crowded. Initially, it was assumed that this place was intended for passengers with children and the elderly, but in practice no one controls this and everyone sits in the family area.

In the corner, under the wall with a socket, I spread my rug, took off my shoes and lay down. I stuffed my backpack under the bench and rested my head on it for safety. I was wearing warm fleece, plus I covered myself with an additional jacket.

I slept fine for the first two hours, but then I was still freezing. I had to get a sleeping bag insert and it became much more comfortable.

By this time, more than 10 people (not tourists) were already sleeping on the floor next to me. Moreover, they did not have rugs and they laid all sorts of thin rags (shawls, bedspreads, shawls) on the cold floor.

Boarding the flight

The flight to Kathmandu departed from gate 7. In order to get to it, you need to go through security check next to the Transfer desk. At 3 am there was no line, the bottle of water was not taken away at the scanner.

On the other side of the control, there are much fewer people and, in principle, one could go to sleep here (also on the floor, of course). But there is no food court or normal deli here. So if you are interested in food and shopping, do not rush through security.

Boarding tickets and passports were checked not before the “pipe” to the plane, but a little earlier - at the entrance there was a separate mini-waiting room in front of our gate.

While passengers stood in line to enter this very hall, an airline representative ran back and forth along the line and took away large backpacks. More precisely, he stuck tags on them (luggage tag) and insistently offered to hand them over to the employee immediately before entering the plane. I didn’t want to part with my backpack and I left the line for a while to wait for the guy to leave.

There is nothing in the last, pre-flight waiting room - no vending machines, no toilets.

Well, then there was the plane (while sitting in which I wrote this note) and my beloved Nepal. See you in Himalayas!

Kirill Yasko, March 18, 2018