Arrive about 2 h before domestic and 2.5–3 h before international flights.

Domestic check-in opens 2 hours (or 1 h 30 min, depending on aircraft) before departure and international 2 h 30 min before; both close 40 minutes before departure (airport check-in page). Entry screening at the Terminal 2 door can queue on summer mornings, which the airport itself acknowledges.

T1 international, T2 domestic departures, T3 domestic arrivals.

Terminal 1 handles all international departures and arrivals; Terminal 2 is domestic departures; Terminal 3 is domestic arrivals and the transfer hall. They are separate buildings on the same forecourt, each with its own car park. All boarding is by bus.

Budget for a paid lounge or eat in Terminal 2 or Terminal 1; cards like Priority Pass do not work.

The airport sells its own lounges: the domestic comfort lounge and business lounge cost 4,250 RUB each, the international comfort lounge 4,473 RUB (USD 81), and the VIP halls 5,368–22,367 RUB (2026 tariff). Dragon Pass is not accepted, and Priority Pass/LoungeKey have been suspended in Russia since March 2022. Terminal 3 has no café, only snack machines.

Allow slack on Moscow connections and check the live board on iktport.ru before leaving.

Irkutsk itself operates normally, but drone-related restrictions at Moscow airports regularly delay or cancel Moscow flights. On 14 October 2026 at least one Aeroflot Moscow–Irkutsk flight was cancelled after overnight restrictions (IRK.ru; the airport board also showed the return flight cancelled).