FAQs

Please book a shuttle 3 hours before your flight’s schedule departure. We collect you from your accommodation in Port Douglas.

We offer 14 shuttle services daily for selection on the booking form: 06:00, 07:00, 08:00, 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, midday, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00 and new ‘night service’ 18:00.

When you book with PortDouglasAirportShuttle.com you will receive a unique booking number as shuttle confirmation. All of the necessary contact information will be coupled with this confirmation.

You will receive an automated message or email (associated with your booking) before your departure with the exact pickup time.

We suggest you book at least three hours before your flight departure to ensure that you arrive at Cairns (CNS) Airport with plenty of time to check in and catch your flight absent any stress.

• With our shared shuttle service, you may be required to depart earlier or later depending on the situation. In this case you will be notified in advance

We will always strive to minimize your wait time at the airport.

On one of our 11 daily fixed schedule services

Our shuttles leave at: 07:00, 08:45, 09:45, 10:45, 11:45, 12:45, 13:45, 15:00, 16:00 and 18:30.

During the day if a flight or baggage delay causes you to miss your scheduled bus you will be allocated seats on the next scheduled bus. If your flight arrives early and we have availability on an earlier bus we will allocate you with seats on that earlier bus.

We suggest please book a shuttle that leaves 30 mins after your arrival.

Passengers should note that at Cairns Airport airline flight arrival times show approximately 84.9% of flights arrive in Cairns (CNS) Airport on time. 

We will make every effort to ensure that you will be sat comfortably on one of our luxury vehicles and on your way to Port Douglas ASAP.

Naturally, in some rare cases there may be small delays (e.g., bags delayed from the plane), and we thank you for your patience and understanding in such an event.

As we only collect pre-booked passengers on our 11 fixed schedule services daily we do not wait for the bus to fill. This means that you can be on your booked shuttle bus and leave after all checked bags have been collected and loaded onto our vehicle.

• Your friendly shuttle driver will meet you at T2 Domestic Carousel 3 or T1 International Arrivals Hall and lead you to the shuttle bus.
• If you do not see your driver, please wait at the nominated area to save any confusion. 
• Cairns Airport limits the time that shuttles may enter after a flight lands. Drivers may enter the airport up to 15 minutes before your scheduled service.

If calling to make a phone booking our friendly staff will advise you of the $10 fee before proceeding with your booking.

Why $10 fee? ​To assist the collection of all relevant information like flight numbers, flight times, accommodation addresses, baggage, child seats, public holidays and special requests like pick up times we encourage all passengers on our service to please book securely online. Booking securely online allows you to source and enter these details at your own pace and protects your payment information which our staff never see. Our online booking system generates an instant booking confirmation with your unique booking number and all shuttle details direct to your email address.

For travellers wishing to book over the phone a $10 fee per phone booking will be applied in addition to the total transfer cost. The $10 fee covers our administration staff time and the manual delivery of bookings that can be entered online, or bookings that can’t be booked online and need the special attention of our trained staff. Thank you for your understanding.

To help us manage changes made less than 24 hours before travel we charge $20 to apply the changes. This includes changes made by airlines that affect your travel say or travel time, or discretionary requests by our passengers seeking to change their booking.

Moving to a new flight on the same day, or any other change, that changes the fixed schedule shuttle you are booked on, and changes to the day of travel require us to manually manage our daily schedule and driver allocations. The $20 fee can be paid by credit card over the phone when making the change. If you email us your changes we will call you back to confirm the change and process the $20 payment. Due to ongoing staff and driver shortages, we also ask that passengers please try to limit discretionary changes less than 24 hours before travel. Thank you for your understanding and assistance to help us provide our scheduled services between Cairns Airport and Port Douglas.

Any flights at 8:30am (or earlier) will need a our private transfer service which can be booked here

If your flight is earlier than 8:30am our standard hours service commencing at 06:00 is not suitable for you. For example a 7:00am flight would need to leave Port Douglas at 4:30am.  As this falls within our ‘after hours’ period, you will need to book a private transfer on our affiliated site Port Private Transfers.

• The return journey from Port Douglas to Cairns (CNS) Airport should only take around 60-70-mins if no road works stops or 85-90 minutes if there are. Ensure you give yourself plenty of time to get down the Captain Cook Highway and checked in for your departure
• Our standard hours transfer service runs from Port Douglas at 6:00am daily and is ideal for any flights departing from Cairns Airport after 8:30am

Airline departure closing times:

• Virgin: 45-mins before departure
• Jetstar: 40-mins before departure
• Qantas: 45-mins before departure

Don’t panic! We monitor flights for both early and late arrivals

Our drivers will be monitoring all of the relevant flights for both early and late arrivals. As such, we will know about your situation as it arises and can adjust accordingly.

Within standard operating hours (flights scheduled to arrive between 6:00am to 6:30pm – our last scheduled seats in shared shuttle departs Cairns Airport at 7pm) we can easily move you to another shuttle. However, for any flights that push your arrival beyond the last 7pm bus your transfer will be subject to adjustment for private transfer rates.

We appreciate how frustrating a delayed flight can be and the negative impact that it can have on your experience.

We ask that you understand that any delayed flights are entirely beyond our control. Due to WH&S issues for driver fatigue, and driver shortages, we have no capacity to operate shared shuttle services after 7pm.

If you are expecting a significant delay, please contact us at your earliest convenience and we will take you through your available options.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is crucial that you make contact with us if your flight has been delayed significantly as transfers after 7pm to midnight pickups are not an automatic option. Naturally, we will need to make the appropriate arrangements with our drivers, hence the additional charge for a private transfer service.

In such an event you have two options:

• Upgrade to our afterhours / private transfer package. or
• We will provide you with a 100% refund if you do not wish to use our after hours private transfer service and prefer instead to make other arrangements.

Passengers are not permitted to drink alcohol or eat food or consume any non water beverage on public passenger vehicles in Queensland. The following common courtesies are for the comfort and enjoyment of your travelling party and all passengers on our shuttles, limousines or private transfers. Queensland Government fines and cleaning charges can result if these courtesies are not followed.

1. Bottled water is permitted to be consumed on our shuttles, however all other food and beverages are not permitted to be consumed on our shuttle service. This Queensland food and beverage restriction on public passenger vehicles is in the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Regulation 2018 (Qld) s 232(2). Thank you for your help to keep our shuttles clean and tidy.

2. A cleaning charge of $175 INC GST applies to any non-water spillages or mess in the shuttle that in the assessment of the driver needs to be professionally cleaned. This cleaning charge applies to spillages of carbonated beverages like Coke, Pepsi, Fanta and the like. Spillages of sunscreen, perfume or of non-carbonated beverages like orange juice or apple juice, and foods like yoghurt, sandwiches, kebabs, pies and any type of food spillage will also attract the cleaning charge. Any bodily fluids including vomit, urine, faeces will automatically attract the cleaning charge independent of the driver’s assessment. If cleaning is required we will provide an invoice for payment due within 7 days. Your assistance is appreciated.

3. Please take any rubbish with you.

4. Animals are not permitted on our shuttle service, unless they are an approved guide, hearing, or assistance animal.

5. Smoking is not permitted on our shuttle service. This includes electronic cigarettes.

6. Passengers are required to use earphones when listening to music or watching videos on a personal device, and keep the volume at a reasonable level.

7. For the comfort of all travelling passengers musical instruments are not permitted to be played on our shuttle service.

Child seats will be made available if requested at the time of your booking

Child seats are available on request:

• (B) booster or
• Front facing (FFR)
• Or rear facing (RFR)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please be aware that it is typically not possible to add a child seat after you arrive so, it is vital that you notify us upon the time of your initial booking. Our child seats are not baby capsules, they are standard child seats suitable for RFR and FFR installation.

1. All of our quotes are valid for 24-hours. Quote requests are typically responded to within 2-3 hours between 8:00am and 5:00pm daily
2. Confirmations are typically sent within 2-4-hours of receiving payment between 8:00am and 5:00pm daily

• Any quotes that we issue will include a payment link, including a unique CAS reference number for you to pay with.
• Once payment has been received you will receive your shuttle confirmation document within two to four hours.
• Any quote requests or payments made after office hours (5:00pm) will be processed the following morning after 8:00am.
• You can contact PortDouglasAirportShuttle.com at any time to discuss your booking or to organise a refund (subject to cancellation fees)

60-70-minutes from Cairns Airport to Port Douglas

Subject to traffic conditions and the location of your accommodation, the journey should take approximately 60-70-minutes from Cairns Airport to Port Douglas.

• 20-25-mins through Cairns northern suburbs (and through the sugar cane fields)
• 30-35-mins along the coast (as you soak up some views of listed World Heritage Sites)
• 10-mins past some more stunning sugar cane fields and into Port Douglas

Hyundai iMax (7 pax); Toyota Hiace (13 pax); Commuter (20 pax); We also use luxury 53 seater coaches during peak times, for your comfort and convenience

Please note that the type of vehicle used will depend on your booking method (i.e., our private transfer service), availability, the time of your transfer, and the number of people travelling.

We do not accept split bookings. Having people departing at different times and/or on different days will cause unnecessary confusion and as such, the bookings must be made separately

Split arrivals and staggered departures require multiple pickups and drop-offs for each booking. Naturally, this means that there will be additional shuttles, drivers, and airport access fees involved.

We understand that delays are part of the process and can impact your plans and those of the other people travelling with you. In this event we will do what we can to accommodate you.

However, as for split-bookings, we do not accept them and any split-arrivals / staggered departures must be treated as separate bookings.

• All return bookings from Cairns (CNS) Airport to Port Douglas are eligible for one airport pick up and one accommodation drop-off on arrival
• The one exception to this policy is if you are arriving at similar times and are happy to wait for others in your group (but, you must inform us upon making your initial booking)

 PortDouglasAirportShuttle.com office is located offsite. Our drivers enter the shuttle parking area once your flight has landed and will meet you with your name on a sign.

Our drivers meet you at baggage carousel 3 at Cairns (CNS) Domestic T2 Terminal. Please note that after 7:00pm there are limited transfer services available and must have been prebooked. This is why it is paramount that you book your airport transfer in advance when arriving at any time of day.

It is fairly common for some international Air NZ flights from Cairns to depart from the Cairns (CNS) domestic terminal

• International flights to New Zealand typically leave via Sydney, Brisbane, or Melbourne (usual domestic check-in times apply)
• Your luggage will proceed ahead of you after having checked in at Cairns (CNS) Airport
• Following that you will transit from the Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne domestic airport to the International Airport and complete your customs from there

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please note that these are general instructions. We strongly advise that you refer to your ticket for precise flight instructions.

We are able to drop you off and collect you from your accommodation at almost every part of Port Douglas

• Our service does not include the option to wait if you need to collect keys from a booking agency and then onto your accommodation (multiple drop-offs), as it will be unfair on other passengers ready to start their holiday
• Your single drop-off can either be to your accommodation, or to your booking agency if necessary
• Accommodation drop-off is subject to accessibility

Here are two examples of accommodation with limited access:

• Beachfront Mirage: a gated community (so we will drop you at the gate)
• Murphy Street: a narrow street which is unsuitable for shuttle bus & trailer reversing (as such, you will be dropped off on the corner of Owen and Murphy)

We do not offer local or pensioner discounts

No problem at all. However, there is an additional $20 charge per booking

Bookings on Christmas day are acceptable, however, we do provide our drivers with a fair rate for working over the holidays. As such, there is an additional $20 charge per booking. Merry Christmas and thanks in advance for your understanding.

All our bookings use PayPal gateway as standard for MasterCard and Visa payment. Unfortunately we cannot process Amex, or online banking deposits from outside Australia. 

Yes

We do indeed provide transfers from Cairns Airport to Cairns City. In addition to that, we can also collect you from Esplanade or your CBD accommodation at transfer you to Port Douglas (and vice-versa).

• This is a separate service from our direct Port Douglas direct shuttle bus service

Yes, we do. Thala Beach Resort is the only stop that we can make between Cairns Airport and Port Douglas

Thala Beach Resort is located 50-mins north of Cairns, and 10-mins to the south of Port Douglas. Due to its convenient location, we do include this as part of our Cairns (CNS) Airport to Port Douglas transfer service (and both cost the same).

• Thala Beach Resort is only a slight 5-minute diversion, and the breath-taking views are always worth it!
• Whether you are staying at Thala Beach Resort or would like to visit for lunch or dinner, we offer a shuttle service between Port Douglas and Thala Beach for just $25 per person, one-way

Yes, we can help you with this

Although our primary service is direct airport transfers from Cairns (CNS) Airport to Port Douglas with no stops, we can assist you.

• If you need to be dropped into Cairns Esplanade / the CBD, or picking up, we charge an additional flat rate of $20 per booking
• For any drop-offs into Cairns, we drop passengers to the airport at the north end of Cairns first (a quick 5-10-min diversion)

For pickups from Cairns, we collect you first, and then head north to collect passengers from the airport (a short 15-20-min wait

We do not service Cape Tribulation or anywhere north of Port Douglas

Typically, we only offer a direct transfer service between Cairns Airport and Port Douglas. However, if you are north of Port Douglas and wish to use our shuttle service into Port Douglas, you are most welcome.

• We usually drop-off and pick-up from your accommodation in Port Douglas, or the Wildlife Habitat at the southern end of Port Douglas
• Your Daintree accommodation or care hire services can take your further north
• As for Daintree / Cape Tribulation, we are not aware of any services that operate from Cairns Airport to Daintree, or from Port Douglas to Daintree (an easy solution is car rental in Port Douglas)
• For Newell Beach, we can organise private transfer options for 1-5, 6-13, of 14-20 pax
• For Silky Oaks, speak with your accommodation for transport options

For Mossman, there are a select few shuttle services that can transfer you to Mossman Gorge and Mossman Township (and outside the local shuttle area)

UNLIMITED local Port Douglas shuttle passes are available for purchase at a 10% discount with your airport transfers. Start using as soon as you arrive in Port Douglas! PLUS save 10% when you buy now. We send your UNLIMITED weekly local shuttle pass digitally before your arrival at Cairns airport so that you can use it immediately after arrival in Port Douglas. For reference a single adult trip in Port Douglas costs $6-$7 one way.