Nice airport: Terminal 1 or Terminal 2? Arriving, finding your way and leaving

Nice Côte d’Azur airport has two terminals, and you are not the one who chooses yours: your airline is. Flights operated by British Airways, American Airlines, United or Norwegian arrive at Terminal 1; those of easyJet, Air France, Delta or SAS at Terminal 2. The two are linked by tram, free of charge, in three minutes. This guide, written by a chauffeur who makes the round trip every day, tells you which terminal is yours, which door to leave by, and how to travel on to Nice, Monaco, Antibes or Cannes.

Two terminals, one rule: the airline decides

In Nice, the terminal depends on the airline operating your flight, not on the destination or the type of flight. The same city can be served from both terminals: London, for example, departs from Terminal 1 with British Airways and from Terminal 2 with easyJet. That is why the question “Terminal 1 or Terminal 2?” has no general answer, and why so many guides contradict each other when they talk about “European flights” or “international flights”.

The right reflex fits in one line: look at the name of the airline that operates the flight, not just the one that sold you the ticket. On a codeshare flight, the ticket may carry the name of one airline and the aircraft that of another; it is the operator that sets the terminal. Your boarding pass shows it, and the airport publishes the full list, airline by airline, on its Airlines page.

This rule applies to arrivals and departures alike. And it explains the most common mistake: arriving in Nice with an airline based in one terminal and leaving with another, based in the other.

Which airline uses which terminal

Here is the allocation published by Nice Côte d’Azur airport, taken from its official list of airlines on 27 October 2026. It sometimes changes from one season to the next: the day before your flight, a glance at your boarding pass is enough to confirm it.

Sorted by country of departure, the list becomes easier to read. That is how most of the travellers I pick up think about it.

From the United States and Canada

Direct flights by American Airlines and United arrive at Terminal 1, as do those of Air Transat. Delta and Air Canada are at Terminal 2. If you arrive via a European connection — through London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Zurich — it is the airline of the last flight, the one that lands in Nice, that decides: British Airways, Lufthansa and Swiss at Terminal 1, Air France and KLM at Terminal 2.

From the United Kingdom and Ireland

British Airways and Jet2.com are at Terminal 1, as is Ryanair. easyJet, which serves the most destinations from Nice, is at Terminal 2, along with Aer Lingus. Two travellers who left London the same morning can therefore end up in different terminals: tell whoever is coming to meet you.

From Scandinavia and Finland

Norwegian is at Terminal 1. SAS and Finnair are at Terminal 2. Flights from Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen or Helsinki are therefore split between the two terminals depending on the airline, and this is one of the most common sources of confusion on departure.

From Paris, Corsica and the rest of Europe

Air France, Transavia, Volotea and Air Corsica are at Terminal 2, as are easyJet and Wizz Air. Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Iberia, Vueling, ITA Airways, TAP and Eurowings are at Terminal 1. For a domestic flight, the rule is easy to remember: most arrive at Terminal 2.

Getting from one terminal to the other: the tram, free, in three minutes

The two terminals are linked by tram lines 2 and B, and the journey between them is free: three minutes, according to the airport. The free section runs from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1, and on to Grand-Arénas station, the one for the railway station and the coaches. Beyond that, towards central Nice, you need a ticket. You will find the details on the airport’s T1 – T2 shuttles page.

On weekdays, a line 2 tram comes roughly every seven to eight minutes, and a line B tram every ten minutes; neither line runs on 1 May. For a change of terminal between two flights, allow for the wait for the tram on top of the three-minute journey, plus the time it takes to reach the stop with your luggage.

Another free shuttle, an electric one, does not link the terminals to each other but connects them to the remote car parks (P4, P6, P8 and P9), every fifteen minutes, from 4.30 am until the last flight, and at the latest until 1.30 am. You can also walk between the terminals if you have time: they are close together, but with two large suitcases and children, the tram is still the simplest option.

From the aircraft to the exit: what awaits you on arrival

On arrival, the route is the same in both terminals: the air bridge or the bus, passport control if you are coming from outside the Schengen area, baggage reclaim, then the arrivals hall and the exit doors. It is in this hall that everything is decided: the taxi queue, the tram, the coach, or the person waiting for you.

Passport control, depending on where you are coming from

The Schengen area has 29 countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, according to the European Commission. A flight from Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen or Helsinki therefore arrives like a domestic flight, with no border passport control. The United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States and Canada are not part of it: from London, Dublin, New York or Montreal, passport control comes before baggage reclaim.

How long this step takes varies with the time of day and the number of flights arriving at once, and nobody can predict it to the minute. If someone is coming to collect you, let them know you are arriving on a non-Schengen flight: they will know to allow for this extra step.

The exit doors to know

Three doors come up in all of the airport’s directions, and knowing them saves you crossing the hall the wrong way:

1. Door A0, at Terminal 1: this is where you set off on foot, seven minutes away, to Nice Saint-Augustin railway station, and where the Zou! coaches stop when they call at Terminal 1.
2. Door A1, at Terminal 1: the official taxi rank for Terminal 1.
3. Door A3, at Terminal 2: the official taxi rank for Terminal 2. The Terminal 2 coach station, where coaches leave for Monaco, Cannes and Antibes, is on the arrivals level, through doors A1 or A3.

The premium car parks G1 and G2 open directly into the terminals, at basement level; the car parks next to the terminals — P2 and P3 at Terminal 1, P5 at Terminal 2 — and the Kiss & Fly drop-off zones are a one-minute walk away, according to the airport’s page on shuttles.

Leaving the airport: the options, exit by exit

From Nice Côte d’Azur airport, you can travel on to the city and the coast by tram, bus, train, express coach, taxi or with a pre-booked chauffeur. None is the best in absolute terms: it all depends on where you are going, the time of day, how many suitcases you have and how many of you there are. Here is what each one involves, according to the airport’s official pages.

The tram and the bus into Nice

Tram line 2 links both terminals to the city centre, at Jean-Médecin station, in under thirty minutes, and carries on to the port, at Port Lympia station. Tickets are sold at the machines in the Terminal 1 and 2 stations, by coins or bank card; the airport mentions an AERO return ticket at €10, with an open return. The airport’s public transport page details the other tickets.

Bus 12+ leaves from the “Aéroport / Promenade” stop, on the Promenade des Anglais, 150 metres from Terminal 1, in front of the Sheraton hotel. It serves the Promenade, Place Masséna, the old town and Place Garibaldi. You cannot buy your ticket on board: you need to have it before you get on.

For a traveller on their own or a couple, with one suitcase each and a hotel near a stop, the tram is the simplest way into central Nice. With a pushchair, three large suitcases and tired children, it takes more effort.

The train to Monaco, Menton, Antibes or Cannes

Nice Saint-Augustin station is less than 500 metres from Terminal 1: a pedestrian walkway gets you there in seven minutes from door A0, and trams 2 and B take you free of charge as far as Grand-Arénas station. The airport points out that access to the platforms has been moved to the other side of Avenue Maître Maurice Slama, next to the Grand Arénas newspaper kiosk.

On the Cannes – Nice – Monaco – Menton line, a train leaves every fifteen minutes on weekdays from 5.50 am to 10 pm, then every thirty minutes until 11.30 pm, with extended hours at the weekend until 2 am on Sunday morning, according to the airport’s trains page. Tickets are sold online on the TER Sud website or in the SNCF Connect app.

The train is the most predictable way to reach Monaco at rush hour, when the road is busy. On the other hand, it means carrying your luggage to the platform, then from Monaco station to your hotel.

The Zou! express coaches

The Zou! regional coaches leave from the Terminal 2 coach station, on the arrivals level: line 80 to Monaco and Menton from bay 1, line 81 to Cannes from bay 2, line 82 to Antibes and Vallauris from bay 3. They then call at Terminal 1, door A0, at the car park shuttle stop, where they stop on request: you need to signal to the driver.

The point that catches out the most travellers is the ticket. On lines 81 and 82, you buy it before boarding, online, and it arrives by text message. On line 80, you can buy it online or tap your bank card on the validator on board. All three lines also have a ticket desk at the Terminal 2 service centre, card payment only.

The official taxi

Nice’s official taxis wait at the ranks on the arrivals level: door A1 at Terminal 1, door A3 at Terminal 2. The airport asks you to turn down any offer made in the hall by someone who approaches you: official taxis are not allowed to pick up passengers outside the ranks.

An official Nice taxi can be recognised by three signs, according to the airport’s taxis page: an illuminated “TAXI ville de Nice” sign and a three-digit number on the roof, information inside on the fares and fixed rates set by prefectoral order, and a meter showing the price. The same page publishes the indicative fixed rates from the airport. Card payment is accepted in all taxis, and a receipt is mandatory from €25.

The pre-booked chauffeur

You do not pick up a VTC at the rank: you book it in advance, and that is what sets it apart from a taxi. The chauffeur knows your flight before you land, waits for you in the arrivals hall, and the price is agreed before the ride. It is the option that takes the least effort when you are arriving as a group, with lots of luggage, or heading to an address that the train and the coach do not serve directly.

At Driver, Let’s Go!, the four most requested journeys have a fixed price, per journey and not per person, tolls and luggage included: Monaco €115 in about 45 minutes, Cannes €110 in 35 minutes, Antibes and Juan-les-Pins €85 in 25 minutes, Saint-Tropez €290 in 1 h 45 min. For any other address, the price is given before the ride.

On departure: getting to the right terminal

On departure, the rule is the same as on arrival: it is the airline operating the flight that sets the terminal, and you should check it on your boarding pass, not from memory of the outbound trip. If you are coming by car, the Kiss & Fly drop-off zones and the car parks next to the terminals are a one-minute walk from the terminals; if you are coming by tram, get off at the stop for the right terminal rather than the first one.

What time to leave depends on three things: the flight time, the distance and the season. From Monaco or Cannes, the drive to the airport does not take the same time on a Tuesday in February as on a Saturday in August. When I set a pick-up time for a departure, I work back from the flight time and allow plenty of margin in July and August: better to wait a little at the airport than to watch the clock in a traffic jam.

If your return flight leaves from a different terminal from the one you arrived at, mention it as soon as you book your transport: the chauffeur, the taxi or you yourself will go straight to the right place, without going back through the tram with your suitcases.

The mistakes that cost time

They are always the same, and almost all of them can be avoided by checking one piece of information the day before.

1. Leaving from the terminal you arrived at. Arriving with easyJet at Terminal 2 and leaving with British Airways, whose flights depart from Terminal 1: the change of terminal costs you a tram ride, just when you have the least time.
2. Confusing the airline that sells the ticket with the one that flies. On a codeshare flight, it is the operator that sets the terminal. Your boarding pass says so; the booking site does not always.
3. Following someone who offers you a taxi in the hall. The airport advises against it in no uncertain terms: an official taxi waits for you at its rank, door A1 or A3, and nowhere else.
4. Boarding the coach without a ticket. On Zou! lines 81 and 82, as on bus 12+, nothing is sold on board. Buy your ticket while you wait for your luggage, not at the edge of the bay.
5. Looking for the “airport” railway station. The station is called Nice Saint-Augustin, you reach it on foot from door A0 at Terminal 1, and access to the platforms is now on the other side of Avenue Maître Maurice Slama.
6. Booking transport without a flight number. Without it, nobody can know which terminal to wait for you in or whether your flight is delayed. It is the detail most often missing from bookings made in a hurry.

With a pre-booked chauffeur: the pick-up, step by step

With a pre-booked chauffeur, your arrival happens in four stages, and you have nothing to look for. Here is how I work, at Terminal 1 as at Terminal 2:

1. When you book, you give your flight number, the number of passengers and suitcases, and the drop-off address. The flight number tells me the terminal and the actual landing time.
2. During the flight, I track your aircraft in real time. If it lands early or late, I adjust to the actual landing time, not the time on the ticket. You do not have to call when you switch your phone back on.
3. At baggage reclaim, I wait for you in the arrivals hall with a name sign. I take the trolley and walk you to the car.
4. At the car, I load the suitcases myself. My white Tesla Model Y takes four passengers, three large suitcases and two small ones, split between the rear boot and the front boot; a child seat or booster seat on request.

I drive from 7 am to 7 pm; for a flight arriving or departing outside those hours, the ride is quoted on request, to be asked for when you book. Full details of the pick-up are on the Nice airport transfer page. If you are arriving for a day of sightseeing rather than a simple journey, a chauffeur by the hour lets you start at the airport, suitcases in the boot, and finish at your hotel. And if your stay takes you to Antibes or Menton, their pages describe the route from the airport and what you will find when you arrive.

Frequently asked questions

Which terminal does easyJet use at Nice airport?

easyJet is at Terminal 2, according to the official list of airlines at Nice Côte d’Azur airport. It is the airline that serves the most destinations from there. Still, check your boarding pass the day before your flight.

Which terminal for British Airways, Air France or Ryanair?

British Airways and Ryanair are at Terminal 1; Air France is at Terminal 2, with KLM, Delta and Transavia. The rule to remember: it is the airline operating the flight that sets the terminal, and your boarding pass shows it.

How do I get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 in Nice?

By tram lines 2 and B, free of charge between the two terminals. The journey takes three minutes according to the airport; on weekdays, a line 2 tram comes roughly every seven to eight minutes. You can also walk if you have time.

Where do I get a taxi at Nice airport?

At the official taxi ranks on the arrivals level: door A1 at Terminal 1, door A3 at Terminal 2. Official taxis are not allowed to pick up passengers anywhere else, and the airport recommends turning down any offer made in the hall.

How do I get to Monaco from Nice airport?

By train from Nice Saint-Augustin station, a seven-minute walk from door A0 at Terminal 1; by Zou! 80 coach, from bay 1 of the Terminal 2 coach station; by official taxi; or with a pre-booked chauffeur, such as Driver, Let’s Go!, at €115 per journey in about 45 minutes.