Mumbai Airport

BOM is a disaster even in it's newer state. First problem is the lack of signs and communication for international transit passengers. You follow one sign that basically takes right outside the building where you stand and swelter in the Mumbai heat waiting to be allowed in. Secondly once you're in there are no seats in which to rest while waiting for your flight check-in desk to open. Then they have this great rule that even if you have a multiple entry visa and are travelling on the same itinerary you need to go to a special immigration office and wait while they take the longest photocopies in the world of your documentation. Then after they separate men and women in security; they put these bizzare tags on your hand luggage and stamp them. They are secured with but a string which makes they easily lost. And god help you if you are connecting to the domestic terminal in short order. The process has to be the most inefficient and uncoordinated thing I have ever seen in an international airport. Also be prepared. You will go through no less than 4-5 security screenings; no matter what you're doing in the airport. And they don't move at any other speed than slow in BOM. In terms of cleanliness I was surprised by how clean the restrooms were in the international terminal however the domestic terminal is revolting. There was even a well- fed rat that ran across the terminal floor as we sat and languished for hours with nothing to do waiting for our flight. Avoid BOM if you can at all costs.

Mumbai Airport has and is undergoing renovations so now things have improved and a good range of duty free shops are there but they are still expensive and the prices are in US$$. There should be pricing in INR as well so that if any overseas traveller has Rupees it can be used. The immigration staff are rude one rudely asked my wife a question in Hindi which the street people speak. Its a disgrace to clear immigration through Mumbai due to these kind of staff who don't know how to speak!!

Jet Airways flights transiting from Singapore - Mumbai - Brussels. I read reviews of the horrific experiences I would encounter in Mumbai so I was weary on arrival. Transit passengers no matter what cabin your travelling in were met at the gate and personally escorted to the transit area. It was peak time at 9pm 5 minute wait to go through a security check then into the terminal. Terminal was very busy but it was peak time still found plenty of places to sit down. Good choice of food outlets reasonable prices all were clean. Free wireless internet throughout the International Terminal. Aesthetically fine Mumbai is not the nicest airport slightly disorganised but renovations are being undertaken. They do another security check at the gate which involves being patted down and having your shoes scanned but nothing to complain about. Use Mumbai to transit if you have don't mind not having the facilities offered by hubs such as Singapore.

Newark-Mumbai by Continental and Mumbai-Hyderabad by an Air India international flight. After collecting our luggage in Mumbai to reach the departures level we had to push our way through a throng of private and public cabbies beg many a uniformed person each pointing in a different direction walk to the end of the building to find an elevator in a narrow passage where luggage carts could not even turn. Once we reached the departures level the sidewalk was barricaded and we had to walk on the road competing with the traffic! All that with two carts full of luggage and two children. With the privatization the multitudes of walkie- talkie toting personnel of olden days are nowhere to be seen and any information is very hard to come by. We would have walked a couple of miles pushing the carts because of misdirection from various people The less said about the information counter the better. Overall it was a bitter experience and would think hard many times about using this airport in future.

Having travelled alone and also with kids you get preferential treatment when you travel with infants. The airport staff lets you bypass any queue and you get access direct to the boarding lounge. Travelling alone the only hitch is when you are passing security they can be quite rude in speaking and checking your baggage. The boarding hall is a big improvement. Costs of things are quite expensive but decor in departure is quite nice. I'd rate departure poor. Arrival a disaster. As soon as you get off the plane you smell mouldy carpets/ walls . They have less immigration counters and really long lines: why cant they open more immigration counters for quick passenger flow: Just before getting out of the airport they have a taxi stand that blocks the exit. Hence passenger commotion as people with trolleys waiting in the taxi queue block the people want to exit the airport. They should move this taxi booth to another location and also have more options for pre paid taxi booths. The last thing you need when you arrive from a long flight is wait at a taxi booth for 30 mins. I'd rate arrival poor.

Flew into the domestic terminal and connected with an international flight. Airport was impressive and more than I expected from the reputation! The flight was scheduled for 4am which reflects the lack of queues but airport was clean retail areas were spacious and there were fantastic recliner seating areas at each boarding gate and coffee shops nearby. The duty free area seemed similar to that at Dubai Terminal 3 and it seems the airport are trying to improve their image. I also liked that there were highly visible emergency defibrillators located at regular intervals throughout the airport. Other airports would do well to follow suit. Staff were lively polite and helpful. Have to mention one of the police/security guys at the front of the airport who went out in the monsoon rain to fetch our dimwit of a cab driver who had got lost (don't ask me how a taxi driver gets lost at an airport complex...). Really did appreciate that personal touch and not something that I would expect in Europe/US regions. I can't comment on what the airport is like when it's busy (I note concerns of other reviewers) but based on what I saw during its quiet period I would be happy to fly through here again.

The transfer system is a disgrace. We arrived at Mumbai at 11pm but it was 12.50pm by the time we got through the security. The system was shambolic with hundreds of passengers being shunted through six security checks (2 for women and four for men). Nobody was supervising the queue several were worried about missing connecting flights. We had been screened at Chennai and had no opportunity to leave the airport so it is entirely beyond me as to why it needs to be done again. Not only that but why body-scan people who walked through the electronic checks without any problem. I cannot recommend the airport and have no wish to visit it again.

It was my misfortune to transit through Mumbai . Everyone was treated as if they were an arriving passenger and had to go through personal and hand luggage screening. I am an easy- going person but was shocked and angered at the way I was treated and dealt with by most of the staff. Prospective transit passengers should be aware that women and men are segregated and dealt with separately. Leaving from gate 3 for Heathrow was a most disconcerting experience. The waiting room (for that is all it is) caters for gates 1A 1B 1C 2A 2B and 3. Loudspeaker announcements are made at the same time as airline representatives shouting for missing passengers - if you can hear anything at all you're lucky. I shall do everything in my power to avoid travelling through Mumbai in the future and shall discourage others from doing the same.

The airport has transformed in recent years - it was quite clean less noisy and chaotic and a decent airport experience. Quite a change from few years back. The only gripe was the traffic/chaos outside the airport. Due to security reasons the traffic police just allows one row of vehicles to the airport departures due to which there was a huge traffic jam and this combined with the sea of people saying good byes to their loved ones means a huge chaos. But once inside the airport it all changes. I did not have to queue anywhere (checkin immigration security) for more than 10 minutes. I think within 20-30 minutes from check in I was at the Lufthansa lounge. I did a brief walk through the airport before boarding and saw nice restaurants cafes and duty free. Overall I was quite satisfied with the experience.

Duty free selection on alcohol was good not so much on cigarettes. The currency exchange in the international departure area is quite funny the woman advised me that the place did not have a good rate and that I should exchange when getting back to HK. The whole security process is highly complicated one has to get a stamp at each checkpoint which leaves you with about 4 stamps in the end. Overall not bad for India's economic situation.