Tivat Airport, the gateway to the Bay of Kotor

Landing at Tivat, with the Bay of Kotor right beside the runway, is a fine way to start a holiday. For anyone heading to the Montenegrin coast it’s by far the most practical airport. Here’s what Airports of Montenegro publishes about it, from distances to formalities, and how I’d use it.

A quarter of an hour from Kotor

The airport is in the municipality of Tivat, right by the water. Its website lists the centre of Tivat at 4 km (5 minutes), Kotor at 8 km (12 minutes), Budva at 21 km (27 minutes) and Bar at 60 km (1 h 19 min). For Herceg Novi it shows a distance and time that don’t match, so I won’t repeat them. Those figures explain why this is the natural airport for Kotor, Perast and Budva.

Leaving the airport

Unlike Podgorica, Tivat lists no bus link on its website, so plan on a taxi, a pre-booked transfer or a hire car. For taxis, gov.uk’s advice holds across the country. Use only licensed cabs with a roof sign and the company’s name and number on the side, and check the price per kilometre or agree the full fare before you set off. More in taxis in Montenegro. If you’ll be touring the coast and the interior, a car pays for itself, which I explain in car hire in Montenegro, bearing in mind you’ll be keeping right from the first roundabout.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Tivat for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Driving in to catch your flight

If you’re flying home from Tivat after a loop through the interior, the airport suggests its own routes depending on where you start. From Ulcinj and Bar, along the coast through Sutomore, Petrovac and Budva. From Pljevlja, Žabljak, Šavnik or Nikšić, down through Grahovo and Morinj to Perast and Kotor, and the same from Plužine. From Bijelo Polje, through Mojkovac, Kolašin and the Morača canyon to Podgorica, then on via Cetinje and Budva. Coming from the north, I’d take the Grahovo road, because you reach the bay at Perast and skip the summer traffic around Budva. It’s right-hand traffic all the way, of course. The airport’s information line is +382 32 670 930 and lost property is +382 32 670 913.

A small terminal with a long story

The airport officially opened on 1 May 1957 with a 1,200 m grass strip, and the first Belgrade-Tivat-Belgrade service flew on 15 June that year. The 2,500 m tarmac runway arrived in 1971, and after the 1979 earthquake the airport had to be repaired and enlarged. The Montenegrin state took it over in 2003, and in December 2018 Terminal 2 opened, over 3,000 m² for departures only, with six check-in desks. It remains very seasonal. The official history says more than 80% of traffic arrives in summer, and on 12 July 2006 it handled 9,138 passengers in a single day.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Tivat on GetYourGuide.

Formalities, step by step

The operator wants passengers there two hours early. Desks open 120 minutes before take-off and shut 30 minutes before, and special baggage such as bikes, skis or instruments must be checked in at least 40 minutes before. No checked bag may exceed 32 kg. There are four passport desks on departure and six on arrival, followed by the red and green customs channels.

The bit I like most is the VAT refund. If you’re not resident in Montenegro, you can reclaim it at the customs desk when one receipt comes to €100 or more, showing your passport, boarding pass, the form stamped by the shop and the unused goods. It doesn’t cover alcohol or tobacco, and you must do it before checking in the bag that holds your purchase.

The terminal has free wifi, a duty free shop past security, a café and a business lounge anyone can use. Lost and found is staffed from 7:00 until the last scheduled arrival.

Is it worth it in winter?

The winter 2026-27 table is thin. There’s Belgrade with Air Montenegro and Air Serbia, Istanbul with Air Montenegro and Yerevan with FlyOne Armenia, plus a few one-off flights until early November, easyJet’s Gatwick service among them, and easyJet from Manchester returns from 3 to 24 March 2027. Between November and February, look at Podgorica first, which has direct flights from Gatwick and Stansted. I set it against Podgorica in Montenegro’s airports, and the routes are in flights to Montenegro.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Tivat for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.