El Loa Airport (CJC), about 7 km south of the centre, has frequent daily flights from Santiago (about 2 hours) with LATAM, Sky Airline, and JetSmart, plus connections from Antofagasta. The airport handles much of the traffic for tourists heading on to San Pedro de Atacama — many transfer companies meet flights and drive straight there without stopping in town.
Long-distance buses run from Calama to Antofagasta (3 hours), Iquique (6 hours), Santiago (overnight, around 20 hours), and across the Bolivian border to Uyuni and beyond. The main bus terminal is on Granaderos, north of the centre. Frequent services to San Pedro de Atacama (90 minutes on the paved Route 23) make the connection easy in either direction.