COP31 transportation: Antalya Airport, the venue and the Istanbul connection

COP31, the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, takes place in Antalya, Türkiye, from Monday 9 to Friday 20 November 2026. It is hosted by the Presidency of Türkiye, with Murat Kurum as COP31 President-Designate and Chris Bowen as COP31 President of Negotiations. The official COP31 site expects around 100,000 participants from 197 Parties: heads of state and ministers, national delegations, UN agencies, observers, business, academia, youth groups and the media.

All of it happens at one campus, the Antalya EXPO Center in Aksu, east of the city: the Blue Zone for negotiations and the Green Zone for exhibitions and public events. The transport problem is simple to describe and hard to solve: tens of thousands of people moving between one airport, a long coastline of hotels and one venue, every day for two weeks. Elly8.net books the Istanbul side of the journey at fixed, published prices, and Antalya transfers and standby cars through the web booker and the 24/7 desk, as early as possible.

How do you get from Antalya Airport to the COP31 venue?

The official COP31 transportation page says most international participants will arrive via Antalya International Airport, approximately 20 to 30 minutes from the Antalya COP31 Venue, and lists four ways in: official COP31 shuttles, taxis at designated ranks, ride-sharing platforms and private transfers. On our routing the airport to the EXPO campus is about 11 km (7 mi), around 15 minutes on a clear road. In conference weeks, with security checks and shuttle traffic around the entrances, plan on the organisers' range rather than the clear-road time.

Antalya is not on the Elly8.net city list, so Antalya transfers are booked through the web booker or the desk rather than a published price table. The price is shown before you reserve, and availability for COP31 dates is confirmed at booking. The fixed prices that are published are for Istanbul, where many delegations connect.

See Istanbul prices and reserve

Arriving at Antalya Airport

At Antalya Airport, terminals matter. The airport operator states that all international flights have operated from Terminal 2 since 27 October 2025, while domestic flights, including connections from Istanbul, use the domestic terminal. A free ring shuttle runs between the domestic terminal, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, with stops in front of the departures level of each terminal. Taxi ranks stand outside the arrivals exits of every terminal. Details are on the Antalya Airport passenger site.

For a chauffeured pickup, put the flight number in the booking. The chauffeur tracks the flight and meets you inside arrivals at the terminal your flight uses, with a name board and complimentary waiting after a tracked landing. If you connect from an international flight in Istanbul, you land in Antalya on a domestic flight, so you exit at the domestic terminal, not Terminal 2. See how airport meet and greet works.

The organisers say dedicated arrival guidance will be available at the airport for COP31 participants.

Private aircraft. Antalya Airport has a General Aviation Terminal (GAT). Heads of delegation arriving on government or business aircraft are met at the general aviation facility named in the booking; arrival slots and ramp access during a summit are controlled, so confirm timings with your operator first. See private jet and FBO car service.

Where delegates stay, and how far that is from the venue

The COP31 accommodation page lists the recommended areas as the vicinity of the venue, Belek and the coastal resort zone, Antalya city centre, and locations with shuttle or public transport links to the venue. Bookings for official and partner hotels go through the Presidency's official accommodation platform, linked from the COP31 accommodation page, and early booking is strongly advised.

Where you sleep decides your daily drive. On our routing, on a clear road:

None of these distances is long. The time goes at the edges: security screening at the Blue Zone entrance, coaches and shuttles at the start and end of the day, and evening receptions in hotels half an hour or more apart.

At the venue: Blue Zone, Green Zone and drop-off points

The Antalya COP31 Venue map published by the organisers shows a Blue Zone entrance, a Green Zone entrance, a Green Zone transfer point, a bus parking lot and a separate parking lot. The official address for the Blue Zone is Solak Alanya Yolu, Serik Caddesi, Antalya Expo Center, Aksu, Antalya.

Only UNFCCC-accredited participants can enter the Blue Zone: Party delegations, observer organisations, UN agencies, media, heads of state and senior officials. The Green Zone, run by the host country, is open to the public, generally free, and in most cases requires online pre-registration. Updates on venue access, security checks and bag policies will be published before the conference; check the venue map before you set pickup points.

A private vehicle drops you where the venue's traffic plan allows, which may be the parking lot rather than the entrance itself. Send the desk any vehicle access instructions or permits you receive from the Presidency, the UNFCCC secretariat or your host, and the chauffeur will use the agreed drop-off and pickup point each day.

The plan for a COP31 delegation

Before you fly. Book the arrival and the departure together, as soon as your accreditation and flights are confirmed. Antalya in November is past the summer peak, but a conference of this size fills hotels and vehicles across the whole coast, and the busiest moves (arrivals on Sunday 8 and Monday 9 November, the high-level days, and the closing days) go first.

Arrival day. A transfer from AYT to the hotel, timed to the flight: a first class sedan or SUV for the head of delegation, and an Executive Sprinter, seating up to 12 with luggage, for staff and equipment. See Sprinter van with driver and group transportation.

Conference days. Many delegates use the official shuttles, and that is a sensible choice. A car by the hour suits the days that do not fit a timetable: a minister moving between the Blue Zone, a bilateral at a hotel and an evening reception, or a chief executive with side events at three different hotels. See hourly chauffeur service and conference transportation.

Evenings. Receptions run late, and shuttles may stop before the last guests leave. An evening car collects you at the end of the day and waits through dinner.

Departure. The final days of a COP often run past the published close. Tell the desk early if the delegation stays on.

Delegations, discretion and what we do not do

The desk books a delegation's sedans, SUVs and Sprinters under one reference, can sign a non-disclosure agreement, and briefs chauffeurs only on timing, route and pickup point. Elly8.net is a transportation service, not a security company: protective details, escorts and motorcades are organised by the host country's authorities and the delegation. For the wider picture, see government and diplomatic transportation.

The Istanbul connection

The organisers note that major hubs connect to Antalya via Istanbul, and Turkish Airlines is the official airline of COP31, with preferential round-trip fares for delegates on international and domestic Turkish Airlines flights, booked through the official flight agency named on the COP31 site. Many delegations therefore pass through Istanbul, and some add a day of meetings with ministries, banks, embassies and companies there on the way in or out.

For those Istanbul days the prices are fixed and published. Rides in Istanbul are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk.

Prices are per vehicle and all-in: chauffeur, vehicle, taxes, standard gratuity and airport meet and greet. Tolls, parking and waiting beyond the included time are billed at cost. A first class SUV from IST is US$275; the full list is on the Istanbul city page. Prices do not change for COP31.

İstanbul Airport is about 43 km (26 mi) from Taksim and Nişantaşı, about 43 minutes on a clear road, and Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side is about 43 km (27 mi), about 47 minutes. A ministry or company day in Istanbul fits the 10-hour roadshow chauffeur package: the chauffeur waits between meetings and takes you to dinner, and the morning flight to Antalya follows. For company bookings, see corporate car service. Airport details are on the İstanbul Airport site.

The road from Istanbul to Antalya is roughly 710 km (440 mi) on our routing, more than nine hours on a clear road, so almost everyone flies; a team driving with equipment can price it in the web booker as a city-to-city car service.

Shuttles, tram, taxi or chauffeur: an honest comparison

Be fair about it: for an accredited delegate staying at an official hotel on the shuttle network, the free COP31 shuttle is the right answer on most days. The organisers say shuttle routes will link official hotels, Antalya Airport and the city centre with the venue, with schedules and route maps published closer to the dates on the COP31 transportation page. Antalya's AntRay tram connects the city centre with key transport points, and routes and fares are on the Antalya transport authority site. Airport taxi ranks carry a fare board, according to the airport's taxi page.

The COP31 site also lists an official transportation partner for airport transfers and chauffeur services. A pre-booked car through Elly8.net makes sense when you want one desk for Istanbul and Antalya, one invoice, and a car that waits for your schedule: late arrivals, a fixed first meeting, a team with luggage and display material, or a long evening across the resort coast. For the general trade-offs, read chauffeur vs airport shuttle and chauffeur vs taxi.

How booking works

1. Enter the pickup and drop-off, with the flight number for Antalya or Istanbul and your hotel or the venue.
2. Choose the vehicle, from business sedan to Executive Sprinter.
3. Press Reserve now on the Istanbul price list, or use the web booker for Antalya and any other address. Confirmation arrives by email.

Partner vehicles are four model years old or newer (seven for Rolls-Royce, Maybach and Bentley). Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory and LimousineAssociation.International. Companies and NGOs sending several participants can open a corporate account with monthly invoicing, and travel agents and delegation travel managers book through travel-agent accounts. Elly8.net books the car only; for flights and hotels outside the official COP31 platforms, the travel desk is run with BookingWorldwide.net.

Cancellation: free more than 72 hours before pickup; 10% at 72 hours or less; 50% at 48 hours or less; 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show. Refunds go to the original card.

Book any address

After COP31

From Istanbul, the private city highlights tour is US$340 in a business sedan to US$680 in an Executive Sprinter. The desk also books the nearest Elly8.net cities: Athens, Mykonos, Budapest and Warsaw.