A layover flight involves making a stop on the way to your destination to switch planes.
The time between when your first plane lands and until you board the second flight is your layover period.
Most layovers are only an hour for domestic flights. But they can be as long as 23 hours and 59 minutes for international ones.
If your stay exceeds 23 hours and 59 minutes, it’s considered a stopover.
Layovers can be boring, but you may even be able to leave the airport during a layover and explore the city if you have a valid visa for the country the layover is in.
A layover flight is when a journey is broken up at some point to switch to a different aircraft for the rest of the journey.
For example, you could have a flight from Dubai to London with a layover in Istanbul.
The first phase of the flight would be from Dubai to Istanbul.
The layover would be during Istanbul, where you’d switch to a different plane.
And the remaining half of the journey would be from Istanbul to London on the new plane.
How Much Time to Leave for a Layover
You should leave two to three hours for a layover to be on the safe side.
Domestic Flights
Most domestic flights won’t have layovers longer than an hour at most.
Shorter layovers for domestic flights are usually fine, since you won’t check in with customs.
International Flights
For international flights, you should leave 2 to 3 hours of time between flights.
During this time, you’ll clear customs, enter passport control and have your bags re-checked.
Do You Stay or Get Off the Plane?
You exit the plane and switch to another plane during most layover flights.
It’s extremely rare to get to stay in your seat during a layover.
Can You Leave the Airport?
You can technically leave the airport during a layover.
You have no legal obligation to stay in the airport, at least for layovers in countries where you have a legal visa.
But whether you should leave the airport during a layover is another question.
It would be unwise to leave the airport during short layovers of just a few hours, since you could miss your next flight.
The ideal time to leave the airport during a layover would be an overnight layover of 20 hours or more.
That, too, is only if you have a visa for the country where you have a layover.
What Happens With Your Luggage
For domestic layovers, your bags are tagged at the check-in counter and loaded onto the new plane.
If you’re on an international flight with a layover, you may be required to collect your luggage and go through customs once again.
However, some countries don’t require you to check in your luggage during a layover. They simply load your luggage onto the new plane.
In some instances, if you are flying on a single ticket (usually with just one airline), your luggage will automatically be transferred for you onto your next flight.
You’ll find out what happens to your luggage during your first flight’s check-in.
You Might Have to Check in Again
You don’t need to check in for domestic layover flights, but you might be required to check in for an international one.
If your layover destination is a country that requires you to check in again, you will have to. Otherwise, you can pass directly to your next gate.
You’ll most likely be required to check in again if you’re flying with two different airlines.
Do You Have to Go Through Airport Security and Customs Again?
Ella Dunham, a Freelance Travel Journalist and Marketing Manager, boasts an impressive career spanning eight years in the travel and tourism sectors.
Honored as one of "30 Under 30" by TTG Media (the world’s very first weekly travel trade newspaper), a "Tour Operator Travel Guru" and "Legend Award" winner, Ella is also a Fellow of the Institute of Travel, a Member of the Association of Women Travel Executives, has completed over 250 travel modules, and hosts travel-focused segments on national radio shows where she provides insights on travel regulations and destinations.
Ella has visited over 40 countries (with 10 more planned this year).
