The short answer
Ras Al Khaimah International (RKT) is a compact airport about ten minutes by car from Ras Al Khaimah city, and Air Arabia has a hub there. Most visitors head for the beach resorts on Al Marjan Island and at Al Hamra; a pre-booked chauffeur also runs south to Ajman, Sharjah and Dubai on one fixed fare.
Ras Al Khaimah International at a glance
Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (RKT) serves the UAE’s northernmost emirate. It is a compact airport south of Ras Al Khaimah city, which the airport puts about ten minutes away by car, and it handles more than a million passengers a year, with non-stop flights to more than 30 destinations. Air Arabia has run a hub here since 2014. Most visitors are heading for the beach resorts on Al Marjan Island and at Al Hamra, a hotel in the city, or the mountains: Jebel Jais, the highest peak in the UAE, is in the emirate. A drivoo transfer is booked before you fly and run by a licensed limousine company and its licensed chauffeur, so the car is arranged for your landing rather than found after it.
Where your chauffeur waits
Book with your flight number and the pickup is set from the landing time, following the flight if its time changes. The free waiting time on an airport pickup covers passport control and baggage reclaim, counted from your actual landing. Ras Al Khaimah keeps marked spaces for pre-booked cars, and that is where your chauffeur waits if you did not add Meet & Greet. The airport and the transport authorities can relocate those spaces when they adjust the traffic, so follow the signage. With Meet & Greet, added at booking where offered, they wait with a name board as you come into the arrivals hall and help with your bags. Where the airport offers it, Meet & Greet shows as an extra when you book, with its price in your fixed fare before you confirm; our page on Meet & Greet at Ras Al Khaimah Airport and the UAE’s other airports says what it covers and where it is offered. You receive your chauffeur’s details ahead of time, then a message as they set off and when they arrive.
Into the city and out to the resorts
From the terminal, the drives are short: about 10 to 25 minutes to Ras Al Khaimah city, and 25 to 40 minutes to Al Hamra or Al Marjan Island, depending on where your hotel is. Al Hamra and Al Marjan Island lie in the south of the emirate, with resorts, homes and beaches, and the city has its own hotels and the old town. For the mountains, your chauffeur can drive you to an address on the road up Jebel Jais; for a day there with several stops, book a chauffeur by the hour so they stay with you. Choose the exact hotel, building or villa in the address search, and you are driven to its door rather than to the district.
South to Ajman and Sharjah
Ajman is about 65 to 70 kilometres south, usually 45 to 70 minutes away. The chauffeur takes Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, the E311, inland through Umm Al Quwain, or the coast road for an address on the seafront. Sharjah city is usually 55 minutes to an hour and a half away, and its own streets, busiest at the morning and evening peaks, set most of that time. If your ticket says SHJ rather than RKT, book from Sharjah International instead: it is much closer to the city. Our pages on transfers from RKT to Ajman and transfers from RKT to Sharjah cover each drive in more detail.
Down to Dubai
Dubai is the longest of the usual drives. Deira and Dubai International (DXB) are about 90 kilometres away, usually an hour to an hour and a half, and Dubai Marina, at the far end of the city, takes from about an hour and a half to a little over two hours, depending on the traffic. The chauffeur chooses on the day between Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road and Emirates Road, the E611, which keeps further from the coast. The northern stretch is usually open; the slow part is the approach past Sharjah into Dubai, above all on weekday mornings. Our page on transfers from RKT to Dubai has more. For most of Dubai, DXB is much closer, so if your ticket lands there, book from that airport.
Tolls and the fixed fare
Cars pay no road tolls in Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman or Sharjah; Ras Al Khaimah’s Aber toll gates charge trucks and heavy vehicles only. Tolls arise only once you are inside Dubai, where your route may cross Salik gates, depending on the roads the chauffeur takes in the city. With drivoo, any Salik crossing passes through at cost, with no markup, and is itemised on your receipt. A trip to Ajman, Sharjah or Dubai ends in a different emirate from the one you land in, and the cross-emirate surcharge for that is already inside the one fixed fare that you see before you book.
Other ways from the airport
The airport lists metered taxis, and a free airport bus with six stops across four emirates, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain, on schedules set around the flights. Either can suit a traveller with light bags and time to spare. A taxi is taken on the meter once you land, so the fare is known only at the end, and the bus runs to its own stops and times, so you need onward transport from the stop. A pre-booked chauffeur is arranged before you travel: you know the car class and the fare, the chauffeur expects you, and you are driven straight to the address you booked. Our guide to an airport taxi or a pre-booked chauffeur sets out the trade-offs, and they apply at RKT too.
Night arrivals
If your flight lands late in the evening or overnight, book ahead with your flight number and the chauffeur is arranged before you fly; the fare for that pickup time is shown before you confirm and stays fixed once confirmed. A late landing usually means a quiet motorway south, so a drive to Dubai is likely to be at the shorter end of its range. You get your chauffeur’s details before the pickup and a message when they arrive, so you are not looking for transport at a quiet hour. If your flight is delayed, the pickup moves with it, and the free waiting time is counted from when it actually lands, not from the original schedule.
Families, groups and luggage
Beach holidays mean bigger bags. Enter every passenger and bag when you book, strollers and beach gear among them, and drivoo Go, drivoo Black and drivoo Van are offered only when one of their cars fits everyone, so a family or group travels in one car. Ask for a baby seat as an extra if you need one; only a car that carries one is sent. UAE traffic rules require a child seat for children under four, and children aged ten or under, or shorter than 145 centimetres, may not sit in the front. Our guides to child seats in UAE cars and luggage and car sizes have the details.
Flying home from RKT
For the way back, book an airport drop-off from your hotel or address and add your departure flight number: the booking warns you if the pickup you choose would get you to the airport later than check-in allows. Follow your airline’s check-in times; from the resorts the drive is short, so the check-in deadline, not the road, sets the pickup time. For days out in between, up Jebel Jais or along the coast, a chauffeur by the hour stays with you, and our page on chauffeur service in Ras Al Khaimah covers the emirate. When you are ready, book a transfer from Ras Al Khaimah Airport with your flight number.
