Most of the people who book this journey are not the people making it. You are in Birmingham or Dubai or Jeddah, your parents are on a night flight, and you want to know that when they walk out of the terminal at 04:30 someone is standing there with their name on a board and the boot already open. Here is how that works at Islamabad and Sialkot, including the parts that are less convenient than most operators admit.
Which airport your family is actually landing at
Islamabad International opened in May 2018 and sits 25 kilometres south-west of the city — the same distance from Zero Point as from Saddar in Rawalpindi. It connects directly to the Lahore and Peshawar motorways and to the capital via Srinagar Highway. If your family is flying from the UK, this is almost certainly where they land.
Sialkot International is different in kind. It is privately owned, built by the Sialkot business community, and sits 14 kilometres west of Sialkot. Its non-stop network is ten destinations across five countries, weighted heavily towards the Gulf — Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Jeddah, Dammam, Riyadh, Medina — with no direct UK route. So the pattern is usually this: family coming from the Gulf lands at Sialkot; family coming from Britain lands at Islamabad and drives on.
That distinction matters, because the onward legs are very different distances.
What happens between landing and the kerb
Nothing in this part is fast, and it helps to know that before you start worrying. At Islamabad, arriving passengers clear immigration first — there are separate lanes marked for Overseas Pakistanis, foreigners, taxpayers, and elderly passengers, women and children. Then baggage reclaim, where they find the belt by flight number on the monitors. Then customs: the green channel if there is nothing to declare, the red channel if there is. Only after that do they reach the concourse hall, where the car park, taxis and rental desks are.
For a long-haul flight with hold luggage, expect a substantial gap between wheels-down and the doors. An hour is not unusual; two is possible on a busy morning.
How the meet and greet actually works
Our driver waits in the arrivals area with a board showing the passenger’s name. He is carrying photo ID and the vehicle’s registration document, and he will show both if asked. Ask your family to check the name on the board against the name you gave us, and to check the ID before they get in. That is the point of him carrying it.
One rule catches people out. Because of space in the terminal, Islamabad International allows only one meeter or greeter per passenger inside, and anyone entering needs a CNIC, airline ticket or valid passport at the entrance gate; beyond two meeters and greeters per passenger there is a Rs 20 entry fee each, though drivers in the drop lane are exempt. In practice our driver is the one person meeting your family — so if cousins are planning to come inside and surprise them, coordinate it, or they will wait in the car park.
Tell us the passenger’s name exactly as it appears on the ticket, and give us a Pakistani mobile number for someone who can be reached. If a phone with an overseas SIM will not connect on landing, the pickup is much easier when there is one local number that works.
Flight delays: the honest version
We do not track flights. There is no system on our side watching the inbound aircraft and adjusting the driver’s departure automatically, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
What we do instead is simple, as long as you do your half of it. Give us the flight number and scheduled arrival time when you book. If the flight is delayed or diverted, or the family is held up in immigration, message us and we will pass it to the driver.
We also do not offer free waiting time. Every booking has a waiting allowance, agreed in writing before travel; waiting beyond it is chargeable. That is arithmetic, not small print — the driver sits in a car park charging Rs 130 for the first three hours and Rs 80 for every hour after, with no free grace period, and while he is there he cannot be anywhere else. If a flight habitually lands late, say so when you book and we will build the allowance around the realistic time rather than the printed one.
Fixing the price before anyone travels
You are booking from another country for people who cannot easily ring you back. The price should not be a conversation that happens at the kerb.
So we quote in writing before travel and the quoted price is fixed. We do not publish live fares. You send the details — airport, date, flight number and scheduled time, passengers, hold bags, the exact destination address and any stop on the way — and you get a written quote covering the whole journey.
A chauffeur fare includes fuel, all tolls, parking, and the driver and his pay. Charged separately: waiting beyond the agreed allowance; a night surcharge for travel between 22:00 and 06:00, which catches most Gulf and UK arrivals into Pakistan; and any change to route, stops or timing after the quote is agreed. On a booking that runs beyond 24 hours, the driver’s accommodation and meals are added for each night away from base — quoted as an estimate, confirmed in writing, and waived if you house him yourself.
If you are arranging this from abroad for the first time, our guide to booking a Pakistan taxi from abroad walks through what we need from you and how payment is handled.
Choosing the vehicle: count the bags, not the people
The commonest mistake in an arrivals booking is sizing the car by passengers. Four adults fit comfortably in a saloon. Four adults returning from six weeks in Britain with a hold bag each, hand luggage and gifts for half of Mirpur do not.
So when you book, tell us two numbers: how many people, and how many hold bags. If your mother is bringing a wheelchair, a folded walker or a child’s car seat, say so — that is boot space too. We will confirm the vehicle in writing, and if the honest answer is that you need a people carrier rather than a saloon, we would rather say it in the quote than have your father standing at the kerb at dawn watching a driver try to shut a boot.
One more thing: if there is a small child, send a car seat with them and fit it yourself before they leave — car seats are not standard issue here.
For the Islamabad end, the details of the run are on our Islamabad airport taxi page, and for Sialkot, our Sialkot airport taxi page.
The Mirpur and Kharian reality
A large share of these bookings do not end at a city. They end in Azad Kashmir or the Gujrat district, and the two airports serve those places very differently.
Islamabad airport to Mirpur is roughly 88 miles, about an hour and fifty minutes in normal conditions. It is the standard run for UK families, and the one we quote most often on the Islamabad airport to Mirpur taxi route.
From Sialkot, Mirpur is around 73 miles and, despite being closer, takes much the same time — roughly an hour and fifty minutes — because the roads are ordinary roads rather than motorway. Sialkot to Kharian is shorter again, about 41 miles and a little over an hour, which is why Gulf-based families with relatives around Kharian and Dinga generally find Sialkot the better airport. That run is covered on our Sialkot airport to Kharian taxi page.
The Sialkot–Kharian Motorway would change these numbers considerably. It is not going to change them soon: as of January 2026 the official line is completion by 2029. Plan around the roads that exist.
One seasonal warning. In December and January, dense fog closes motorway sections in Punjab, including stretches of the M-2 and the M-11 between Lahore and Sambrial, with no notice. A winter arrival can take substantially longer than the same journey in March.
Common questions
Do you track my family's flight?
No. We do not offer flight tracking. Give us the flight number and scheduled arrival time when you book, and message us if the flight is delayed or diverted so we can pass it to the driver. If a flight regularly runs late, tell us when booking and we will agree a waiting allowance that reflects the realistic arrival time.
Is waiting time free?
No. Every booking has a waiting allowance agreed in writing before travel, and waiting beyond that allowance is chargeable. Airport parking is metered from the moment the driver enters — Rs 130 for the first three hours and Rs 80 an hour after that at Islamabad, with no free period — and while he is waiting he is not available to anyone else. Agree a realistic allowance when you book rather than at the barrier.
Where will the driver be standing?
In the arrivals area with a board showing the passenger’s name, carrying photo ID and the vehicle registration document. Islamabad International permits only one meeter or greeter per passenger inside the terminal, so if relatives are also coming, expect them to wait outside in the car park rather than at the doors.
Can I pay from the UK or the Gulf and fix the price before they fly?
Yes. We quote in writing before travel and the quoted price is fixed. We do not publish live fares. Send the airport, date, flight number and scheduled time, passenger and hold bag counts, the destination address and any stop on the way, and you will get a written quote covering the whole journey.
Should my family fly into Islamabad or Sialkot for Mirpur?
It depends where they are flying from. Sialkot’s non-stop network is Gulf-focused and has no direct UK route, so families coming from Britain almost always land at Islamabad, which is about 88 miles and an hour and fifty minutes from Mirpur. From Sialkot, Mirpur is about 73 miles but takes a similar time on ordinary roads. For Kharian, Sialkot is clearly closer at around 41 miles.
What is included in the fare, and what is extra?
Included: fuel, tolls, parking, and the driver and his pay. Extra: waiting beyond the agreed allowance, a night surcharge for travel between 22:00 and 06:00, changes to route or timing after the quote, and — on bookings running over 24 hours — the driver’s accommodation and meals for each night away from base, quoted as an estimate, confirmed in writing, and waived if you house him yourself.