Mauritius Airport

Customer Reviews

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Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 51 reviews
5/10
No Skytrax Rating
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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.
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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).
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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.
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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.
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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.
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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.
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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.
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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.
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Mauritius Airport customer review

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.
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