Updated: 12 October 2026 · Shuttle stops, terminal services and journey times checked against the airport and Muttas websites and on our own transfers.

Dalaman Airport (DLM) is the main gateway to Turkey's south-west coast. Fethiye, Gocek, Dalyan, Sarigerme and Marmaris are all within reach by road, and most visitors to the area land here. Kalkan and Kas, across the provincial border in Antalya, are also closer to Dalaman than to Antalya Airport. The airport has two terminals standing side by side, one for international and one for domestic flights. This guide covers what happens after you land, how to reach the main resorts and what to expect when you fly home.

The Two Terminals

The international and domestic terminals are next to each other, linked by a covered walkway of around 200 metres. The walk takes 3–5 minutes at a normal pace, and there is no shuttle between them. In both buildings, arrivals are on the lower floors and departures on the upper floors.

Most flights from the UK and Europe use the international terminal. Domestic flights, including connections via Istanbul and Ankara, use the domestic terminal. If you are connecting from an international flight to a domestic one, you clear passport control and collect your bags first, then walk across. The airport's interactive terminal map shows the layout of both buildings, including the car hire desks, exchange offices and lost property offices.

Arriving at Dalaman Airport

After leaving the aircraft, international passengers go through passport control first, so have your passport ready, together with your e-Visa if you need one.

Visa and Passport Rules

Visa rules for Turkey depend on your nationality and the passport you travel on, so check them before you fly. British citizens and nationals of many European countries can visit without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Everyone else should start with the official e-Visa portal of the Republic of Turkiye, which lets you select the visa type, your nationality and your travel document, and then shows whether you meet the requirements for an online application.

If you need an e-Visa, you create a profile, upload the required documents, pay the fee online and download the e-Visa once it is issued. Keep a printed or digital copy with you for passport control, and apply only through evisa.gov.tr, as some unofficial websites charge an additional fee for the same application.

Whether or not you need a visa, your passport must, as a general rule, remain valid for at least 60 days beyond the end of your permitted stay, which for a 90-day visit means at least 150 days from the date you arrive. British passports also need at least one blank page. If your passport falls short, renew it before you travel.

Baggage Reclaim and Customs

From passport control, you go down to the baggage hall. There is a duty free shop here, so you can shop while you wait for your luggage, and a customs desk if you have anything to declare. Alcohol is heavily taxed in Turkey, so if you plan to drink wine or spirits during your stay, buying it here within the customs allowance works out cheaper than buying it in town.

Pushchairs and Oversized Items

Most airlines let you take your pushchair as far as the aircraft door, where it is loaded into the hold. On arrival, some airlines return it at the aircraft door and others send it to the baggage hall, so ask the cabin crew before you leave the aircraft. Pushchairs, car seats, golf bags and other bulky items do not always come out on the main belt, so if yours does not appear, ask the ground handling staff in the baggage hall where oversized items are delivered.

If Your Luggage Does Not Arrive

Report missing or damaged checked luggage before you leave the baggage hall. The lost baggage offices belong to the airlines' ground handling companies and are in the baggage reclaim area. Once you pass through the exit, getting back in is difficult. If you left something on the aircraft, contact your airline first, as items found on board are handled by the airline rather than the airport. Items left elsewhere in the terminal go to the airport's own lost property office, which is open 24 hours.

Facilities in Arrivals

• Cash and exchange: There are cash machines and an exchange office. Rates at the airport are usually worse than in town, so change only what you need for the first day, or pay by card and choose Turkish lira if the card machine asks.
• SIM cards: A stand selling Turkish SIM cards is sometimes open in international arrivals, but do not rely on it late at night or in winter. Mobile phone shops in Fethiye, Marmaris and other larger towns are a more reliable option.
• Food and drink: In arrivals, there are only a few quick options, such as a McDonald's kiosk, and prices are well above what you would pay in town. If your journey to the resort is short, it is usually better to wait and eat when you get there.
• Wi-Fi: Free Wi-Fi is available for 30 minutes. You can get a password from a kiosk using your passport. One of the kiosks is located before international passport control. Longer use is charged by card.
• Medical help: There is no pharmacy in the terminal, but a first aid clinic staffed by doctors and nurses operates around the clock, with an ambulance on standby outside.
• Left luggage: There is no left luggage office or locker service at the airport.
• Baby care and prayer rooms: Baby care rooms are located at several points in the terminal, and there are prayer rooms on both the arrivals and departures floors, open at all hours.

Meeting Your Driver or Group

Anyone meeting you waits outside the terminal, not in the arrivals hall. Private transfer drivers stand beyond the exit holding name signs, and tour operator welcome desks are set up in the car park area just outside. If you are collecting someone, the 24-hour Park Cafe in the car park in front of the terminal is a good place to wait for a delayed flight.

Getting to Your Resort

Your options are an airport shuttle, a taxi, a hire car or a pre-booked private transfer. Which works best depends mainly on where you are staying and what time you land.

Times are approximate and assume normal traffic. In July and August, allow extra time, particularly on Saturdays.

✈️ From Dalaman Airport

Private Transfers from Dalaman Airport

We take you from the terminal to Fethiye, Gocek, Dalyan, Sarigerme or Marmaris. Your driver meets you outside arrivals with a name sign.

Good to know: We track your flight and adjust the pick-up time if it is delayed. Baby and booster seats are free on request.

See our Dalaman Airport Transfers →

Airport Shuttles

Muttas, the municipal transport company of Mugla, runs two shuttle routes from Dalaman Airport. Both leave from outside the terminal and accept cards on board. Tickets are not sold in advance; you simply board and pay.

• Fethiye route: Stops at Gocek, Calis Junction and several points on the way into Fethiye, finishing at Fethiye Otogar (the main bus station). As of October 2026, the fare to Fethiye is 300 TL per person.
• Marmaris route: Stops at Ortaca, Koycegiz and Gokova Junction, finishing at Marmaris Otogar.

Departures from the airport are timed around flight arrivals rather than a fixed timetable. Muttas states that it meets every domestic arrival, so if you land on an international flight, check the information screens or ask at the information desk for the next service. Current times are listed on the Muttas pages for the Fethiye route and the Marmaris route, which also show departures back to the airport.

Havas, the airport bus operator, also runs shuttles from Dalaman Airport to Fethiye and Marmaris on broadly the same routes, with departures timed around flight arrivals. Its buses also leave from outside the terminal, so if the next Muttas service is a long wait, check whether a Havas bus is leaving sooner.

If you are staying in Oludeniz or Hisaronu, or on Calis Beach, the shuttle only takes you as far as Fethiye Otogar. Our guide on how to get to Fethiye explains the onward dolmus (shared minibus) and taxi connections from there.

Going to Dalyan or Sarigerme

Neither resort has a direct shuttle from the airport. For Dalyan, you can take the Marmaris shuttle as far as Ortaca and continue by local dolmus or taxi, although with luggage a taxi or transfer from the airport is far simpler. Sarigerme is the closest resort to the airport, and a taxi or transfer is the only practical choice.

Going to Kalkan or Kas

Both resorts lie east of Fethiye in Antalya province, and neither has a direct shuttle from the airport. On public transport, take the Fethiye shuttle to Fethiye Otogar and change to an intercity minibus heading for Kalkan and Kas. The journey takes several hours with the change, so with luggage, or if you land in the evening, a pre-booked transfer or a hire car is far more practical. The drive follows the D400 along the coast and takes around 2 hours.

Taxis

Taxis wait outside the terminal around the clock. Fares are metered, so ask the driver for an estimate before you set off. Not every taxi accepts cards; if you plan to pay that way, ask before you get in. The question in Turkish is “Kredi karti geciyor mu?”

Hiring a Car

Car hire desks are in the arrivals hall, and both international chains and Turkish firms operate here. In July and August, book before you travel, as the desks can run out of cars. All of the resorts in this guide lie on or just off the D400, the main coastal road. The route to Fethiye passes through the Gocek toll tunnel, and our Fethiye arrival guide explains how tolls are paid in a hire car.

Flying Home from Dalaman

Security starts at the door. At the terminal entrance, bags go through an X-ray scanner and passengers through a metal detector, before you reach the check-in desks. After check-in, you pass through passport control and a second security check before reaching the departure gates.

If you want your suitcase wrapped in protective film, there is a paid luggage wrapping service in the departures hall, near the check-in desks.

How Early to Arrive

Check-in opening times depend on the airline, but for many international flights the desks open around 2.5–3 hours before departure. In summer, queues can build at the entrance check, at check-in and bag drop, and again at passport control, so aim to be at the terminal about 3 hours before your flight. If you are coming from Fethiye, Oludeniz or Marmaris, add the journey time and allow a margin for traffic. From Kalkan or Kas, the drive alone takes around 2 hours.

If your flight leaves very early in the morning, consider spending the last night in Dalaman town rather than setting off from your resort before dawn. The town centre is only about 6.5 km from the terminal, and the same option suits anyone landing late at night who would rather not travel on to their resort straight away.

Liquids in Hand Luggage

Standard international rules apply. Liquids, gels and aerosols in your hand luggage must be in containers of 100 ml or less, packed in a single clear plastic bag of no more than 1 litre. Baby food and medicines needed for the journey are exempt, though security staff may ask to check them. Liquids bought at duty free after passport control are allowed on board in the sealed bag with the receipt.

Tax-Free Refunds

VAT refunds on eligible purchases can be processed in the international terminal. If any of your tax-free items are going in your checked luggage, show the goods, the tax-free forms and your passport to customs before you hand your bag over at check-in. You then claim the refund with the stamped forms.

Shopping, Food and Smoking

• Duty free: The main duty free shop is after passport control in international departures.
• Food and drink: There are cafés, fast food outlets and snack bars on both sides of security. Prices are noticeably higher than in town, so many travellers bring their own. Hotels and restaurants in the resorts often prepare airport packs for a small charge, or you can pick up borek, pide or simit from a local bakery before you set off.
• Drinking water: Free water dispensers are available after passport control, so bring an empty bottle through security and refill it before your flight.
• Charging: There are charging points in the departure lounge, but the seats beside them fill up quickly at busy times, so charge your phone before you set off. Turkish sockets take two-pin European plugs, so bring an adapter if you are travelling from the UK.
• Smoking: Smoking is not permitted inside the terminal. In international departures, there are outdoor smoking terraces after security and passport control.

Lounges and Fast Track

The airport runs two CIP lounges and a Fast Track Meet & Greet service. All three are paid services that can be booked on the airport website, and both lounges also accept members of some lounge access programmes.

• International CIP Lounge: Located after passport control in international departures, it offers seating, hot and cold food, soft and hot drinks and unlimited Wi-Fi. Use is limited to 3 hours per person, and children aged 0–2 enter free.
• Domestic CIP Lounge: The domestic terminal has its own lounge in the departures area, with hot and cold drinks, snacks, Wi-Fi and an outdoor terrace with a smoking area. The same 3-hour limit applies.
• Fast Track Meet & Greet: For departures, a member of staff escorts you through the entrance security check, passport control and the second security check, with priority check-in on partner airlines. For arrivals, you are met as you leave the aircraft and taken through passport control and baggage reclaim. It must be booked at least 6 hours in advance.

Assistance and Accessibility

Both terminals have lifts, accessible toilets and tactile paths for visually impaired passengers, and there are dedicated check-in, security and passport lanes for passengers with reduced mobility. There is an assistance point in front of the departures entrance. Wheelchair assistance is arranged through the airline, so request it when you book your flight or contact the airline or your tour operator well before you travel. The airport also recognises the Sunflower Lanyard for passengers with hidden disabilities.

Busy Periods and Winter

July and August are the peak months. Saturdays and evenings are the busiest times, when charter flights arrive close together and queues form at passport control, in the baggage hall and around the transfer area outside. The crowds tend to come in waves: the terminal can go from quiet to packed within half an hour, then clear again.

In winter, the number of international flights falls sharply. Some UK airports, such as London Gatwick and Manchester, usually keep a reduced direct service, but from most other countries you will need to connect in Istanbul, at either Istanbul Airport or Sabiha Gokcen. The domestic flight from Istanbul to Dalaman takes just over an hour. The airport stays open all year and the main services, such as duty free and car hire, keep running, but smaller stands and cafés may keep shorter hours.

Dalaman Airport FAQ