Mumbai Airport

Horrible security system. I was traveling from Ahmedabad to Newark via Air India. Immigration was done at Ahmedabad. At the new Mumbai airport we still needed to show our passport and boarding pass every 50 feet plus handbag scanning. Don't know what they are trying to prove. In my opinion they are not confident about their system. That's why checking every 50 feet. On top of it staff are not friendly and will not listen. Customer service is not in their dictionary. Complete disaster. Even 2 hours of layover is not enough due to unnecessary check points. Will avoid this airport. They should look at other country's airport and see how it is done efficiently.

Beware of this airport total chaos in transfers from domestic to new terminal T2. We travelled from Goa to Mumbai with plenty of time to connect. Our problem started on the transfer bus which left late we had to go through 4 lots of security to get to the new terminal and there is no rush in these people. When we got into T2 we were told the gate had just closed and we had missed our flights. Absolutely fuming but best was to come we were charged an additional £318 and a 13 hour wait until the next flight.

I was looking forward to seeing this terminal for the first time but soon after entering I wanted to leave. The queue to check into my flight was horrendous staff at the counter were slow and staff watching the lines didn't try to reroute passengers to make things more efficient. Security was the worst I have seen. 5 men/women per queue with only 1-2 working at any point. The line I was in took a good 20 minutes and there were only 3 people in front of me. In general security wasn't busy. When we tried to go to our gate we were stopped by another security guard because we didn't have tags on our bags saying we went through security. We went back to the security counter and asked for tags. One found a tag for some random airline on the floor and eventually put it on my mothers bag. Then one stamped the tag on my bag this took 10 minutes. Then we made our way to immigration the line I was in had only one person helping. Our flight was at 4am so this was around 2am. We were in line for a good hour.

Very disappointed. Stunning building - experience completely ruined by mosquitoes and dreadful queue management. On departure First Class and Business class passengers lost it with the ineffective Staff at passport control (quite a sight at 1am). No BA lounge and general business class lounge more like a vast cheap coffee shop. None of the normal sense of comfort peace and relaxation that this regular traveller is used to. Arrived just over a week ago to an access point which delivered all the travellers to the departures lounge rather than arrivals! No staff available to manage travellers - long delay as all the travellers were turned around - returned to the correct Arrivals area. Would avoid this airport at all costs in the future if I could - otherwise will allow plenty of time.

Overall a nice new facility but I was surprised by the number of mosquitoes flying throughout the terminal. I have been fighting more mosquitoes than the previous three weeks travelling in India. Domestic to International transfers are still cumbersome though this time more positive than last time.

I had the opportunity to use the new T2 international departures terminal and it is fantastic and as previously written a quantum leap above the previous decrepit airport. Road to the terminal is well maintained and elevated with 4 entrances for the security checks to get into the terminal. They have a separate Business and First class check in zone for all airlines which was nice and not crowded. Very high ceilings make for a feeling of a large facility. Security was a breeze with officers saying please and thank you (Clearly some training took place). Facility spotlessly clean with excellent lighting. Tons of shops though not completely open due to recent facility opening. Food outstanding and very well priced and boarding gates large with two entrances for each plane making for a quick boarding-deboarding process. I liked the Indian mural art work which was superb. Yes there are tons of security checks but that is the world we live in. Would place on par with any European airport and much better than any American airport.

Avoid this airport if at all possible. The problem is that it took us over 2 hours to transfer from the international side to the domestic side which caused us to miss our domestic flight. Jet Airways did not offer help. We finally figured out that we had to pay them a penalty to get another flight 22 hours later. This is caused by the inefficiency of the security people and their cumbersome procedures. The new terminal will not solve this problem. This must be a common problem because while we were trying to figure out what to do we met a couple from another flight with the same problem.

My wife and I had the pleasure of boarding our flight at the new Terminal 2 at 1 am on Feb 13. Having arrived at and departed from Mumbai's international and domestic terminals several times over the past two decades I can honestly say that the new Terminal 2 represents a quantum leap in (for the most part) vastly improving the passenger experience. This includes the new elevated access ramp to the terminal from the Western Express Highway. The terminal building itself is an architectural wonder. There is lots of glass all owing expansive views of the airport. Spacious seating / waiting areas with clear flight boarding announcement. Slightly secluded seating areas with relaxing arm chairs and modular sofa type seating configurations. Numerous bistros and coffee shops in a shopping mall type of a layout. Interesting and original retail outlets. As this was the first day of operations several stores were not yet open or had goods displayed but were not available for shopping. Nevertheless the store managers invited us to have a look around. Likewise the duty free shops were still stocking up with only a few items for sale. Washrooms were very clean and well distributed throughout the terminal. One aspect that could be improved is the still cumbersome process of passport and visa checks for outbound passengers which seems to be largely bureaucratic and unnecessary. There was a long snaking line for this checkpoint before proceeding to the airside retail food and gate area which was tiresome and resulted in us feeling a bit too exhausted to fully explore the various stores and eateries. I hope the airport authorities eliminate or at least streamline this procedure.

Immigration counters: only 15-20 are operational at night. Long queues. No proper boards to segregate travellers based on their status. Staff near immigration counter who directs people were very rude and scolded everyone. All security personnel talking in Hindi to a crowd who only know English. Utter confusion. Have been to many airports in terms of crowd control and helping people - Mumbai is the worst. No use of making a beautiful terminal if you can not provide beautiful service. Disappointed from CSIA. Belt gets stuck with luggage. Had to wait 15 mins for it to restart.

Horrible customer service. The worst airport in terms of queues trolley service immigration and security. All they care about is sitting around and waiting for the new terminal to be built. Customer service is non-existent. Whether you are an older person requiring wheel-chair assistance or a young mother with little kids you will receive absolutely no help or even kind words in this horrid place! Avoid this airport if you can.