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Mauritius Airport Passenger Reviews and Mauritius Airport Traveller Reports
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MAURITIUS AIRPORT customer review : 3 December 2012 by Michael Gruber (Germany) |
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Rating : 7/10 |  |
Queuing |  |
Cleanliness |  |
Facilities | |
Recommended |  |
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Arrival in the afternoon with bus-transfer to the terminal. Quick and friendly immigration staff. Short waiting
time for luggage and easy way out. Departure in a small overcrowded Terminal. Only 2 or 3 counters per
airline. But then a very quick security check and short ways - because of only 4 gates. A few shops, one duty-
free, one so-called restaurant. Poor seating possibilities approx. 200 places with three bigger planes 747 (to
CDG) 767 (to LGW) and 767 (to DXB) no space for passengers! In future EK plans to fly in with the A380.
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MAURITIUS AIRPORT customer review : 3 October 2012 by Philip Loveder (Australia) |
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Rating : 6/10 |  |
Queuing | |
Cleanliness | |
Facilities | |
Recommended | |
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Recently, I transited SSR (Plaissance) twice on my way from/to Australia and Reunion. The airport is small
and quite functional but will quickly develop 'growing pains' as air traffic volumes grow. With just three 'wide
bodied' flights leaving within 45 minutes of each other on my recent return transit, the departures area was
absolutely choked with people. The facilities simply can't cope with too many flights at once. When quieter,
its fine and comfortable enough. One real plus is (for those travelling between MRU and Reunion) is that seat
allocation and boarding passes are ready to go as soon as you approach the transit desk which I thought was
very efficient and to be commended.
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MAURITIUS AIRPORT customer review : 8 September 2012 by Ravi Mene (UK) |
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Rating : 8/10 |  |
Queuing |  |
Cleanliness | |
Facilities | |
Recommended | |
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We flew into Mauritius by Emirates. This is a small passenger friendly airport. Though the walk to the arrivals
and immigration was a long one, the immigration process was quick and efficient. The baggage delivery area
was bright with plenty of trolleys. There is a duty free both in arrival and departure areas. The exit from the
airport is smooth. We flew by Air Mauritius to Anantanarivo, the check in area was efficient and quick, once in
the departure lounge, there is plenty of seating available, the toilets were clean. Overall a pleasant
experience.
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MAURITIUS AIRPORT customer review : 21 November 2011 by M Watabiki (UK) |
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Rating : 2/10 |  |
Queuing | |
Cleanliness | |
Facilities |  |
Recommended |  |
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Business class lounge very small and crowded. Paid a premium to use the lounge only to have to stand as
there was no seats. Food very limited on choice and quite bland. Drinks were ok. Tried to use computers in
lounge but took over 5 minutes just to load 1 page. Gave up and tried to use wifi but that was not much
quicker either. Worst lounge I have been in.
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MAURITIUS AIRPORT customer review : 11 September 2011 by S Mohammed (UK)
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Customer Rating : 1/5 |
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 | Queuing |
| Cleanliness |
| Facilities |
I was travelling back to UK, I was 20 weeks pregnant at the time. I made the person at security aware that I am
pregnant and was not happy to go through the scan part of the search and I requested a body search. The person
on the security refused blankly and reassured me that there is no other way I could go through the security
without the scan. I had no choice but to walk through the scan even though outbound to Mauritius, in UK airport I
didn't go through the scan and had a body search instead without any problem. I believe that the people working
at the airport do not have a clue of what they are doing. I am cross I didn't persist not to go through the scan and
asked to see a senior staff member.
MAURITIUS AIRPORT customer review : 10 April 2011 by D West (UK)
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Customer Rating : 4/5 |
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| Queuing |
| Cleanliness |
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Arrived at 0935 local from DXB. Took about 30 mins to get through passport control but we
caught the tail end of a flight from India so I guess things backed up slightly. All the
counters were open too. Luggage was waiting on the carousel so the delay in passport control
helped with the luggage wait. Painless hire car pick up. Departed 3rd April. Hire car drop off
slightly more fraught as it was getting dark 1830 local. Lots of passengers in check in.
Helpful staff at entrance directing the hordes to the appropriate check in desks. Indifferent
check in person at Emirates First class and the Business lounge was 'quaint' shall we say.
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MAURITIUS AIRPORT customer review : 27 August 2010 by J Schmerker
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Customer Rating : 3/5 |  |
Have used SSR both for arrival/departure and transit in the last year. Immigration on arrival
still demands confirmed hotel reservations for non-nationals, which seems unnecessary
especially given the expense just to get here. Public buses run regularly through the airport;
walk out of arrivals, across the parking lot, and to a shelter. Conductors speak both English
and French and tickets can be bought on board. Transit passengers (admittedly there are very
few) must still negotiate immigration; note to the officer you are not staying but make sure
to have the onward ticket to prove so. The bookstore in departures has good deals for Englishtitles.
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MAURITIUS AIRPORT customer review : 20 March 2009 : by I Dawson
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Customer Rating : 3/5 | |
I think passengers will find an improvement in the airport. We travel regularly through the
airport and noted changes in our most recent visit in February. Although it can still be very
busy at weekends resulting in longer queues, we found the check-in process had speeded up. I
agree that filling in the departure form is a hassle if you are not aware that this should be
completed beforehand, it would be so much easier if the entry form was in triplicate, the last
page then used for departures. Business lounge pleasant and comfortable with a good range of
refreshments. I did not find any problem with boarding and found all staff helpful and
pleasant.
MAURITIUS AIRPORT review : 25 July 2008 : by Claude Congé
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Customer Rating : 3/5 | |
Arriving from Paris in first class took 15 minutes to clear the airport. Leaving was another matter
- airport being too small, lots of queuing at economy check in as the airport gets busy for the
London, Paris, and Dubai flights of Saturday evening. MK lounge is nice, with newspapers, food and
beverages. Boarding can be horrendous on economy - duty free shop has a nice variety of good, the
selection at the coffee shop is too basic, needs to be improved.
MAURITIUS AIRPORT review : 28 May 2008 : by G Marsh
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Customer Rating : 3/5 | |
Long queues at immigration passengers queued for ages. Immigration worked slowly although they were
polite. After immigration a pointless queue again for health check forms to be scrutinised. On
return to the airport all baggage, shoes and other metalic objects are Xrayed and examined prior to
check in. Queued up for immigration only to have to go back and complete a departure card which
contained useless information with inadequate space for completing details. This could have been
given on arrival for completion before returning to the airport. Queued again for Xray of hand
baggage shoes and personal items again despite it already having been X rayed on entering airport.
Then after this check pulled yet again for a visual scrutiny of hand baggage. It seems they need to
sort this airport out if they want to maintain and encourage visitors. Small selection of shops in
waiting area and a small cafeteria type area. The business class lounge was very comfortable with
Wifi access adequate snacks and drinks.
MAURITIUS AIRPORT review : 11 May 2008 : by L Ghera
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Customer Rating : 3/5 | |
Very disorganised sometimes. Long queues and hot. Prices are very high at the coffee / food places.
Mauritius Airport review by M Chen
14 November 2007 Customer Rating : 
Very small airport for an island that intends to accommodate 2 million tourists. Not many shops.
Food is expensive at the coffee corner. Security staffs are simply useless and rude. No foreign
exchange facilities after check in. The place turns tiny as soon as you have 3 big carriers at the
same time. On landing, depending on the hour, immigration can be very pleasant or a nightmare.
Immigration officers regularly get their relatives to jump queue. Customs is a complete mess if you
are Chinese or Muslim traveling from South East Asia, the officers will have a special eye on you.
If you are Caucasian, its a breeze.
Mauritius Airport review by Paul Smith
27 September 2007 Customer Rating :
A small airport with slow moving queues. Travellers from UK need to complete a landing card. Once
through the slow passport control you then have to queue again for the health check control. Not quite
as slow but could be better. On leaving Mauritius you need to complete a disembarking card. They tell
you this after you have queued for passport control so you then have to complete the card and queue
again! Total nonsense. Duty free section is quite expensive and the only cafe that serves hot food is
substandard. The food served is an insult to Mauritian cuisine. Unfortunately this is the islands main
airport so you will have no choice but to use it.
Mauritius Airport review by F Choong
6 September 2007 Customer Rating : 
Travelling in Business Class amongst the first people to leave the plane and immigration took only 1
minute to clear - as for luggage, probably an extra 10 min. In less than 15 minutes, I was out of the
airport even after having done some duty free shopping. When leaving Mauritius, there's a special
entrance for Premium passengers. Security scan your luggage first and check-in was like a breeze. Took
less than 3 min to clear. However on the other side of the airport, the queue for Economy was
horrendous as 3 flights were leaving at the same time for Paris CDG, Hong-Kong and Dubai. Excellent
lounge with hot snacks, savouries, good choice of drinks, magazines, Internet and shower rooms. Looked
like an hotel lobby. Finally, a good choice of duty free shops. But be careful if you are in transfer
through an EU airport as you will get your shopping confiscated if anything is above 100ml as for
instance, in CDG airport, the staff thinks MRU doesn't comply with EU laws and I had to leave my
bottles of rum.
Mauritius Airport review by Rob Sawyer
20 April 2007 Customer Rating : n/a
I travel just about every week on business normally out of Heathrow,
Gatwick or Southampton. Apart from a queue in Terminal 3 in August 2006
I can safely say that SSR Airport in Mauritius is the airport in the
world which has taken me the longest to get from the plane to the bus
and the longest to get from the bus to airside. The immigration is so
slow it's quite unbelievable and the queue to enter the terminal go
through security, then check in then immigration then another security
check is completely unacceptable. If Mauritius wants more tourists then
it needs to sort this out. We will not be rushing back there.
Mauritius Airport review by Kaylash Ramtohul
13 October 2005
Very pleasant airport for such a small island. All the usual facilities are there although somewhat
expensive. The duty free prices are good though compared to UK or Canada and many other countries.
The queues have to be sorted out. Security agents should not usurp the role of the police or customs
although they may assume the responsibilities of a police officer according to Section 25 of the
Police And Criminal Evidence Act (1984). It is imperative in a highly competitive travel industry to ensure that small details are not
ignored at the expense of arrogance and unnecessary and superfluous security checks.
Mauritius Airport review by Martin Brown
19 August 2005
Interesting airport. The runway is big enough to take a 747-400 or an A340, but the
terminal only has 4 gates. I arrived on 6th August on business and my baggage arrived
very quickly and for those who really need a smoke, there is a dedicated smoking area
in baggage reclaim. The arrivals exit is looks inviting with palm trees etc. The
queues at immigration are long, but then how many people have just come off of that
747? They try to deal with you as quickly as they can. I was at the back of
the queues as was last of off aircraft and was through in 20 minutes. Leaving is a
different matter. You go through security before checkin. Security stick a security
label on to say they have checked and you can go out and come back if you need that
smoke, as once inside, there is NO SMOKING at all, what-so-ever. I was told if we
opened the bag we would need to go through security again. My bags have many pockets
and the label was only across one? You need to go through security again before
going into the main terminal, which really doesn't make sense. There are not many
shops inside. You can get coffee and food, but it isn't cheap. Duty free had
the usual array of jewellery, alcohol, tabacco etc at some good prices and in Euro's
as well as Rupee's. I did find on a trip to the toilet that most people went in there
for a smoke. The attendant standing outside knows this, but ignores it, so if you
really need a ciggy before the 12 hour or so flight, there is an 'opportunity'. That
said the terminal was clean and most staff are friendly. Immigration can be stroppy.
I had to fill out all of the details on the immigration form again as the carbon copy
came out faint. Overall a pleasant experience, but then most people are there for a
good and expensive holiday, so in reality, you are already relaxed.
Mauritius Airport review by A Abdulla
15 June 2005
Clean airport but not friendly to smokers (there's no smoking throughout the whole airport !!) On
arrival there is still the long queues at immigration, and no proper system to avoid queue jumpers.
Prices are hiked up at the duty free lounge. Nothing under US$3 (even water or coffee or a soft
drink).
Mauritius Airport review by Sam Mullahy
21 March 2005
Nice and clean airport. Not a huge choice of facilities but was ok. When we arrived at the airport
there was a queue for Air Mauritius and Air France that stretched the length of the airport but the
BA check in had no queues which was a bonus. Security check prior to check in is a pain as the
queue for this mingles with the other queues.
Mauritius Airport review by David Brunger
24 February 2005
On arriving at the airport from England on an early flight, a number of aircraft had recently landed
and thus there were a number of queues waiting to be processed by immigration staff. I found the
staff member who dealt with me to be very pleasant, but the process was 'long winded' and
after a long flight, tedious. Some queues moved faster than others, and therefore a single
snaking queue, branching off to the next available immigration officer would have been
preferable
and fairer. I found the airport to be clean, well laid
out the terminal building close to the departing aircraft. There were even staff
outside the building directing passengers to the correct entry doors.
Mauritius Airport review by Allan Payne
16 December 2004
A pleasant, but adequate airport, which serves its basic purpose of catering for tourists to the
Island But lacking in some facilities. And inadequate for transit passengers (from/to Australia
connecting through to South Africa, and East Africa. There is a café in the transit/departure
lounge, but it only takes cash in the local currency, and no way to change or accept other
currencies. Succumbed when thirsty and dehydrated during my 7hrs in the transit lounge to trying
the tap water in the toilet, but I spat my first mouthful out when the attendant told me it wasn't
drinking water, though he could for foreign currency get me some drinkable water. So for equivalent
of $2, was given some tepid water in a bottle. Later on found the claim about the tap water being
undrinkable somewhat tenuous, as observed another airport employee filling a drinking bottle from
the same tap.
Mauritius Airport review by Durvasa Luchowa
22 November 2004
Because of the increasing number of flight passengers, Mauritius sought to improve its airport
facilities in the late 1980s modelled on those of Europe. While this improvement was seen as
innovative and welcoming, it was also sad to see the erosion of its uniqueness which Mauritius once
prided itself upon. It does not make the facilities better by having a few more chairs, two lounges,
and a cafe/bar that is extraordinarily expensive. . What matters is how passengers are treated .For
example, the airport personnel such as the police, check-in staff, immigration officers, health
officers, etc used to be welcoming, friendly and helpful and always had a smile on their face. Now
if you see a helpful person with a welcoming smile on their face, then you must count yourself
lucky. Also as soon as you get off the plane you are met with the sight of around 6 to 10 people,
looking at you with stern faces, some in police uniforms with a revolver or pistol in their hands
pointing at you. What a welcome hey? Some of the police hold absolute power and sometimes abuse that
power by stopping you for no reason. Some security guards who had failed to become police officers
and now content to work as security guards sometimes also assume the power of the police and will
check your hand bag after you have already checked in. Some of them will even tell you that your
have excess baggage even though you have already been through check-in procedures, and
satisfactorily fulfilled all the requirements.
The good thing, though is there is now a system where you have to queue for check in or immigration
control. Therefore this has been a significant improvement. Although some people complain about the
queues, they are no worse than those of British or European airports. However, you can still jump
the queue if you have a relative or a friend in high position of authority at the airport. This is
done in a more subtle way, nowadays.
Mauritius Airport review by Bernard Pierre
29 February 2004
Though queuing in front of the immigration desks seemed a rather hard time when disembarking from a
long-haul night flight, the rest was OK - quick luggage delivery (immigration queuing time left time
enough for luggage to be delivered!). It's a bit of shame there is just a small stairway to get
from rental car return office (in arrival hall) to departure hall, but we managed to make it pretty
quickly. No queue upstairs in spite of three jumbos leaving a the same
time. I must say our flight
to Paris counted 60 people only. Well equipped tax free shop showing prices in
euros. Nice
business class waiting lounge from air mauritius shared by partner airlines such as
Air France, Emirates or South African Airways. There is a first class lounge for the same
airlines -doesn't look
much better. On the whole, rather good terminal for such a small and comparatively poor island
Mauritius Airport review by S Kurimbux
25 April 2003
Unlike other comments, I have a few nice things to say. The amount of
people at the airport depends on what time of day you are arriving / departing. As I was
arriving at 08:40, I can remember seeing only two other planes parked at the
airport. So for me Immigration was the only problem. I agree, it was hectic - there are only about
3-4 desks, with everyone forming messy queues, as we were all eager to experience this beautiful
island. Nice views of the airfield though. I remember walking through immigration and thinking "wow", because they've really done up the
airport since my previous visits to the island. It was a vast improvement.
Mauritius Airport review by Raymond Yu
17 March 2003
There is one stupid design at this airport. Their rental car counters are located inside the arrival
hall. Then when you return the car key and settle the bill before departure, you have to walk pass the
security check outside of the arrival hall - although the security guards were friendly at the time,
this design made me feel like breaking the regulation. After returning the key,
I have to take
my luggage and walk up the stairs outside of the building under the rain (sorry, no escalator
connecting the arrival and departure hall) to the departure hall.
Mauritius Airport review by Nicola Neyhaul
28 November 2002
Just returned after 3 weeks on this wonderful island. However, the airport departure experience was
so awful I expect many people would think twice about returning. Security check before check in was
not just chaotic as the previous author suggests, but an absolute disaster. Three
747 loads of
people in a queue with only one machine! After check in, the immigration queues were totally
unacceptable. A further 25 minutes queuing with a three year old and four year old is not a lot of
fun I can tell you. Only had a short time to enjoy the very pleasant lounge. SSR airport looks
better than it did a few years ago but they really have got to sort the queues out.
Mauritius Airport review by Simon Cheung
31 October 2002
Mauritius' Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport (SSR) is located in the
south-east of the island, and
transfer time to anywhere else is usually an hour. For a small country of 1.2 million it is basic
but has all the usual facilities, even if it's not particularly attractive. There is a
baggage security check just before the check-in counters although it isn't particularly thorough and
queuing was a bit chaotic. Two lounges are available for First and Business Class passengers,
one of which is handled by Air Mauritius. This is the one I used for a Singapore Airlines flight.
Again, it did the basic job and had all the usual facilities such as internet,
fax machine, shower
and so on. Also a lot of staff on hand which seems to be standard in hotels and restaurants on the
island. Okay overall. One thing to remember is that immigration control on arrival in Mauritius are
keen that all visitors leave in due course - and insist on seeing an onward ticket. This can make
things complicated if you arrive on either a one-way or open-jaw ticket, as I did.
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