Can you live in an airport?

Most people pass through an airport on their way somewhere else. They check in, wait for a flight, perhaps eat a meal or sleep for a few hours during a long connection. But for some people, an airport has become a place to spend weeks, years or even decades. How does this happen? Is it legal to live in an airport, and what happens when someone cannot leave?

Editorial review: 5 November 2026. Airport access rules differ between countries and individual terminals. The personal stories in this article are based on published reporting and official sources.

Living in an airport might sound like something from a film. In reality, it has happened in France, Italy, Turkey, Kenya, Malaysia and other countries.

Some people have been stranded because of immigration problems or missing documents. Others have struggled to find housing, lost contact with their families or experienced difficult personal circumstances.

Although their situations are very different, they raise the same question: can an airport really become someone’s home?

Can you legally live in an airport? ▾

People have lived in airports, but an airport is not a legally recognised home simply because someone stays there.

Passengers may be allowed to rest overnight while waiting for a flight. Living permanently in a terminal is different. Airports have access restrictions, security procedures and local regulations. Someone who remains for an extended period may be asked to leave, depending on the circumstances. There is no single worldwide rule, the answer depends on the country, the airport and the person’s legal situation.

A recent story from Naples, Italy

In November 2026, Italian newspapers reported the unusual situation of a young Swedish man who had been staying at Naples-Capodichino Airport. The man, known as Daniel, was 25 years old. For weeks, he had been sleeping on seats in the arrivals terminal and spending his days around the airport. He had no identification documents or money and appeared to have difficulty explaining his recent movements.

Airport employees noticed his situation and helped him with food and other basic necessities.

His story attracted national attention, partly because it reminded people of The Terminal, the 2004 film starring Tom Hanks.

However, Daniel’s experience was not a film plot. He was a young man in need of assistance.

On 2 November 2026, he accepted support from social services in Naples and moved into temporary accommodation. With help from the Swedish Embassy and Italian authorities, he was able to contact his parents, who had not heard from him since August.

Daniel said he wanted to return to Sweden. On 5 November, Italian reporting indicated that he was expected to travel from Naples to Rome, where Swedish diplomatic representatives would assist him with the next steps. At the time of this review, his completed return to Sweden had not yet been independently confirmed.

His experience is one recent example of a much wider phenomenon.

People who have spent years living in airports

Some airport residents have become familiar faces to employees, shopkeepers and regular passengers. Their stories show that living in a terminal is not always the result of being trapped between two countries.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri: 18 years at Paris Charles de Gaulle

Perhaps the world’s best-known airport resident was Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee also known as Sir Alfred Mehran.

He arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1988, during a complicated attempt to travel to the United Kingdom.

Problems concerning his documents and legal status prevented him from continuing his journey as planned. What began as an immigration difficulty developed into an extraordinary period of airport life.

For approximately 18 years, from 1988 to 2006, Nasseri stayed in Terminal 1.

He slept on a red bench, surrounded by luggage, boxes and personal belongings. He read newspapers, wrote regularly and gradually became a familiar presence to airport workers.

His situation changed over time. French authorities eventually offered ways for him to regularise his stay, but he did not accept the proposed arrangements. His continued residence was therefore no longer explained only by his original documentation problems.

In 2006, he left the airport because of health difficulties. He subsequently spent time in hospitals and accommodation facilities.

In 2022, Nasseri returned to Charles de Gaulle Airport, where he died on 12 November 2022.

Cesira Ton: more than 20 years at Milan Malpensa

Italy has its own remarkable airport stories.

One of them concerns Cesira Ton, affectionately known as Emilietta, who spent more than two decades at Milan Malpensa Airport.

Originally from the Veneto region in northern Italy, Cesira had previously lived in Mauritius with her family. After a series of difficult personal circumstances, she returned to Italy.

From 1999 onwards, Terminal 1 at Malpensa gradually became the centre of her everyday life.

She kept her belongings close to her, spent her days around the terminal and was well known to airport staff.

Cesira sometimes explained that the airport was a place where she felt comfortable and free. Nevertheless, her circumstances were very different from those of travellers temporarily resting between flights.

In 2022, as her physical condition deteriorated, she agreed to move into a residential care facility in Dormelletto, near Lake Maggiore.

She died on 17 August 2025, aged 86.

Her story is particularly interesting because it was not primarily about someone being denied entry to a country. An airport had become part of her daily routine and personal sense of belonging.

Further reading: Corriere della Sera, August 2025 (Italian).

Bayram Tepeli: 27 years at Istanbul Atatürk Airport

In December 2018, the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported on Bayram Tepeli, a man who had spent around 27 years living at Istanbul Atatürk Airport. Tepeli had moved to Istanbul in 1991 after leaving his hometown. He initially found employment in the cleaning industry and later worked at the airport.

Over time, the terminal became the place where he also slept and spent much of his free time.

Unlike Nasseri, Tepeli was not stranded because of international travel documents. His situation was connected to employment, housing difficulties and later health problems. Airport workers and other people he knew provided help with meals and daily necessities.

Sanjay Shah: 13 months at Nairobi Airport

In 2004, Sanjay Shah became stranded at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya.

He had travelled to the United Kingdom using a British Overseas Citizen passport. However, that type of citizenship did not automatically give him the right to enter and settle in Britain. After being refused entry, Shah returned to Kenya, where he faced another problem: he had already renounced his Kenyan citizenship.

He was left in a difficult legal situation and spent approximately 13 months at Nairobi’s airport.

His family visited regularly, bringing food, clean clothes and other supplies. Airport employees also helped him during his stay. In 2005, Shah obtained British citizenship and was finally able to leave the airport.

Hassan al-Kontar: seven months at Kuala Lumpur Airport

In 2018, Hassan al-Kontar, a Syrian refugee, found himself unable to continue his journey or enter a country where he could legally remain. The war in Syria, together with problems involving his passport and residence permits, had left him with very limited options.

He spent around seven months at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

During this period, he shared videos and updates on social media, showing aspects of his daily life inside the terminal and explaining the uncertainty of his situation. His story received international attention. After being detained by Malaysian authorities, he eventually received protection in Canada, arriving there on 26 November 2018.

He later shared his experience with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, an organisation for which he subsequently worked in Canada.

Was the film The Terminal based on a true story?

Yes, but only partly.

Steven Spielberg’s 2004 film The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks, was inspired in part by the experiences of Mehran Karimi Nasseri.

In the film, Viktor Navorski finds himself unable to enter the United States or return home after a political crisis affects the status of his country and his travel documents. He ends up living in the international transit area of an American airport.

The real story was considerably different.

Nasseri stayed mainly in the public areas of Charles de Gaulle Airport, rather than being permanently confined to an international transit zone as the fictional character was. His legal situation also evolved during the years he spent there. The film captures the strange feeling of living somewhere designed only for temporary visits, but it is not an accurate account of Nasseri’s life or of airport immigration law.

Can you sleep overnight at an airport?

Sleeping in an airport for one night is much more common than living there permanently.

Travellers sometimes need to rest inside terminals because of early departures, overnight connections, cancelled flights or unexpected delays.

Whether this is permitted depends on the airport.

Some terminals operate 24 hours a day. Others close overnight or restrict access to people who can show a valid flight reservation.

It is also important to understand the difference between two types of airport space:

• Public areas

These normally include entrances, arrivals halls and areas before security screening. They may be open to visitors, but access can still be restricted by airport rules.

• Restricted passenger areas

These include spaces beyond security checkpoints, where access generally requires the appropriate travel documents, screening and permission.

For example, the Finnish airport operator Finavia explicitly prohibits sleeping in passenger areas without a valid travel ticket. Transit passengers may rest near departure gates when necessary. Anyone planning an overnight airport stay should therefore check the official website of the airport, including its opening hours and security requirements.

The fact that a terminal remains open throughout the night does not necessarily mean that anyone may sleep there indefinitely.

Can someone be fined or removed for living in an airport?

Airport authorities may restrict access or ask people to leave when they are not using the premises according to applicable rules. However, the legal consequences vary significantly between countries.

Are international airport transit zones outside the law?

There is a widespread belief that an airport’s international transit zone is a kind of neutral territory, belonging to no country.

That is not correct.

Airports are located within national territories and remain subject to the laws of the countries in which they operate.

International transit areas have special rules concerning border controls and immigration, but they are not independent territories.

In the Schengen area, for instance, an airport transit visa may allow an eligible traveller to pass through an international transit area while waiting for a connecting flight. It does not automatically permit entry into the Schengen territory.

European Union aviation security legislation, including Regulation (EC) No 300/2008, also establishes requirements for controlling access to restricted airport areas.

Being inside an international transit zone therefore does not create a general right to remain there forever.

Cases involving refugees, asylum seekers, stateless people or travellers denied entry can raise additional legal questions that require individual assessment.

Why do some people use airports as shelters?

Looking at these stories together, it becomes clear that there is no single reason why someone might end up living in an airport. For some, the problem begins with borders and documentation. For others, it is connected to homelessness, family problems, employment or personal circumstances.

Why might an airport feel safer than the street? ▾

Airport terminals can provide shelter from bad weather, toilets, lighting, seating and a continuous presence of workers and security personnel. Some also have areas accessible throughout the night. For someone without stable accommodation, these facilities may make an airport seem more manageable than sleeping outdoors. However, this is not the same as having a suitable home. Airports offer little privacy, sleeping conditions can be uncomfortable, and access to assistance is not guaranteed. A person’s ability to remain may also be restricted by the airport authorities.

A place for journeys, not always for departures

We usually associate airports with movement. People arrive with suitcases, wait for announcements and continue towards their destinations. For someone living inside a terminal, however, the same environment can take on a completely different meaning.

The stories of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, Cesira Ton, Bayram Tepeli, Sanjay Shah, Hassan al-Kontar and Daniel show that there are many different paths into airport life. Some situations lasted a few months, others continued for decades. Some were eventually resolved through new documents or international assistance, while others were closely connected to the absence of stable housing.

Freedom to travel depends on circumstances that are not equally available to everyone.

Having the correct documents, a place to stay and people who can offer support makes an enormous difference when crossing borders. When we encounter someone who appears to be living in an airport, we should remember that their presence may have little to do with a desire for adventure.

Yes, people can end up living in airports. But that does not make an airport a permanent home, or give everyone the legal right to settle there.

Behind these unusual stories are people whose journeys have been interrupted, sometimes for reasons far beyond their control.