New Mumbai T2
Feb 17, 2014 | 4:18 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Circle City
Posts: 3,568
New Mumbai T2
I thought I would share my first thoughts of going through the new T2. It opened on 2/12 and I was through early early on 2/14.
It's nice. I don't fully understand some of the design, but it's a huge step up from the old terminal. The carpet is hideous and it's a bit suffocating because of the low ceilings and darker colors, but the art and murals are quite nice. They have people movers, but they seem to be oddly placed with large areas in between, making them less useful than they could have been. They were also narrower, causing jams at the entrance. I expect that will not always be an issue, partly because people i am sure wanted to try them out and partly because I got there when the ME flights were landing so it was pretty crowded. The airport is enormous. We were put at one of the further gates and it took probably 20+ minutes to walk to immigration.
The immigration hall was a hugely mixed bag. The facility is beautiful. Lots of light, high ceilings, a gardeny area at the back so there was a bit of green. *But* the actual act of getting through immigration was one of the worst I have seen for a while. The signage is wholly inadequate and there seemed to be lines for all sorts of people. People with kids, people with medical, women, OFWs, First/Biz, etc. There were two problems. First, no one was policing the lines. Whether because the incoming pax ignored the signs or couldn't read them, it was a massive scrum at any line that was shortest. And no one was controlling things, which meant things became crowd controlled, which is never a good thing in a place like India. The other problem was that the rope barriers stopped about 10 or 15 feet from the actual counter, so people would spill out like a lava lamp into whatever space was empty and push up against the immigration counter. Next thing you get it shouting and pushing and shoving. Not what you want after a long flight. I will ordinarily say that they deserve a bit of slack given that they just opened, but I am not inclined to give any because it's not like it's the first time they did this. It's merely the first time in the new facility. They should have been able to anticipate the problems and done what India is good at - throw people at the problem. They certainly had enough employees milling about. They could have easily used them to direct traffic and to get a hold on things. The result was a process that should have taken 15 minutes, and took about 5 or 10 in the old facility, took well over an hour.
Other than immigration, i have to give the facilities 2 thumbs up. They don't have the bus to the domestic terminal running yet (that, I will cut them some slack on), but it will come. In the meantime, it's a prepaid taxi for 250 inr plus some if you have bags (I didn't, so i dont know the extra charges) and the actual transfer probably took around 15 minutes. I had about 3.5 hours and it was more than enough time to get through the immigration mess, get transferred, have a Starbucks and a couple of vadas, get into the terminal, and do a little shopping before the flight.
I will be doing the exact same routing next month, so hopefully they will straighten out the problems by then.
It's nice. I don't fully understand some of the design, but it's a huge step up from the old terminal. The carpet is hideous and it's a bit suffocating because of the low ceilings and darker colors, but the art and murals are quite nice. They have people movers, but they seem to be oddly placed with large areas in between, making them less useful than they could have been. They were also narrower, causing jams at the entrance. I expect that will not always be an issue, partly because people i am sure wanted to try them out and partly because I got there when the ME flights were landing so it was pretty crowded. The airport is enormous. We were put at one of the further gates and it took probably 20+ minutes to walk to immigration.
The immigration hall was a hugely mixed bag. The facility is beautiful. Lots of light, high ceilings, a gardeny area at the back so there was a bit of green. *But* the actual act of getting through immigration was one of the worst I have seen for a while. The signage is wholly inadequate and there seemed to be lines for all sorts of people. People with kids, people with medical, women, OFWs, First/Biz, etc. There were two problems. First, no one was policing the lines. Whether because the incoming pax ignored the signs or couldn't read them, it was a massive scrum at any line that was shortest. And no one was controlling things, which meant things became crowd controlled, which is never a good thing in a place like India. The other problem was that the rope barriers stopped about 10 or 15 feet from the actual counter, so people would spill out like a lava lamp into whatever space was empty and push up against the immigration counter. Next thing you get it shouting and pushing and shoving. Not what you want after a long flight. I will ordinarily say that they deserve a bit of slack given that they just opened, but I am not inclined to give any because it's not like it's the first time they did this. It's merely the first time in the new facility. They should have been able to anticipate the problems and done what India is good at - throw people at the problem. They certainly had enough employees milling about. They could have easily used them to direct traffic and to get a hold on things. The result was a process that should have taken 15 minutes, and took about 5 or 10 in the old facility, took well over an hour.
Other than immigration, i have to give the facilities 2 thumbs up. They don't have the bus to the domestic terminal running yet (that, I will cut them some slack on), but it will come. In the meantime, it's a prepaid taxi for 250 inr plus some if you have bags (I didn't, so i dont know the extra charges) and the actual transfer probably took around 15 minutes. I had about 3.5 hours and it was more than enough time to get through the immigration mess, get transferred, have a Starbucks and a couple of vadas, get into the terminal, and do a little shopping before the flight.
I will be doing the exact same routing next month, so hopefully they will straighten out the problems by then.
Feb 17, 2014 | 5:06 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: DL Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, ALL Platinum, IHG Platinum
Posts: 30,703
thanks for the report....i'm looking forward to flying out from the new terminal in a few months time....hopefully they would have sorted out their teething problems by then....
Feb 19, 2014 | 9:04 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: MSY
Programs: BA GfL
Posts: 6,057
Thanks for the report. My colleague flew out from the new BOM last week and said that while the airport was indeed lovely (she didn't mention the carpet!), the security process was completely chaotic. Given that the awful security mess at the old international terminal was the one thing that really gave me hives about the place, I'm somewhat relieved that I ended up flying out of lovely, uncrowded BLR when I left India last Saturday!
Feb 21, 2014 | 3:47 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New York
Programs: UA GS, Marriott LT Titanium, IHDG DE
Posts: 212
Flew out of T2 last week
Flew out of T2 last week. General impressions:
1) Check in was nice and spacious -- similar to Delhi T3 and way better than the old terminal
2) Security -- before immigration versus after in OT. Signage sucked and lines were pretty long
3) Immigration -- signage also bad here. But went reasonably quickly
4) Post security -- decent amount of F&B as well as shopping
5) Lounge -- one main lounge versus the individual lounges previously -- food was an upgrade from the Lufthansa lounge. lots of space also which is a big plus from LH
5) Gates -- decent walk from the lounge -- similar again to Delhi T3. also limited options near the gate for F&B, at least near the gate United uses.
6) Additional security -- you have to go through another round of screening for the US flights. the UA gate didn't have a lot of space so the boarding process took forever.
Will miss the old terminal -- having flown from there at least 50 times in the past 4 years, had gotten used to all of its issues.
1) Check in was nice and spacious -- similar to Delhi T3 and way better than the old terminal
2) Security -- before immigration versus after in OT. Signage sucked and lines were pretty long
3) Immigration -- signage also bad here. But went reasonably quickly
4) Post security -- decent amount of F&B as well as shopping
5) Lounge -- one main lounge versus the individual lounges previously -- food was an upgrade from the Lufthansa lounge. lots of space also which is a big plus from LH
5) Gates -- decent walk from the lounge -- similar again to Delhi T3. also limited options near the gate for F&B, at least near the gate United uses.
6) Additional security -- you have to go through another round of screening for the US flights. the UA gate didn't have a lot of space so the boarding process took forever.
Will miss the old terminal -- having flown from there at least 50 times in the past 4 years, had gotten used to all of its issues.
Mar 5, 2014 | 5:33 am
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 368
Lounge too big.Soulless
Food in the lounge good better than any F class lounge in the old terminal.
But the drink was crap no premium drinks.No champagne.No single malt.Red label & J&B Scotch would not give that to my dog.
Service not bad.Barman apologized for the poor quality drinks.Said they would have premium drinks for F passengers but there is only going to be one lounge.If you are going to have to show your boarding pass for every drink.Not a good plan.
If they did not want to let individual airlines have lounges they should have had a smaller F class lounge for all F passengers.Don't know why they did not do that ?
Food in the lounge good better than any F class lounge in the old terminal.
But the drink was crap no premium drinks.No champagne.No single malt.Red label & J&B Scotch would not give that to my dog.
Service not bad.Barman apologized for the poor quality drinks.Said they would have premium drinks for F passengers but there is only going to be one lounge.If you are going to have to show your boarding pass for every drink.Not a good plan.
If they did not want to let individual airlines have lounges they should have had a smaller F class lounge for all F passengers.Don't know why they did not do that ?
Mar 5, 2014 | 9:50 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: London
Programs: BA silver, VS, Jet, Carlson gold, Amex Plat
Posts: 615
I believe the current lounge in T2 is just a temporary one. The proper one isn't due to open for another few months.
I am not sure how much better the final lounge is going to be though. The individual airlines have been refused permission to open their own lounges, so it is going to be one lounge for all airlines
I am not sure how much better the final lounge is going to be though. The individual airlines have been refused permission to open their own lounges, so it is going to be one lounge for all airlines
Aug 28, 2014 | 11:46 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: ORD
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 16,934
I'm looking at 5:55am departure out of T2. Any advice on hotels, the Hyatt Regency looks to be very close. Other options? What time should we leave for the terminal - we'd be in TK business class if it matters.
Aug 31, 2014 | 5:00 am
#8
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: North Yorkshire, UK / Pasadena CA
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 1,311
You have lots of choice very close to the terminal. It really depends on your budget and whether you plan to spend any time at the hotel or just a minimal layover. Hyatt Regency, ITC Maratha, Leela Mumbai are all v. nice but pricey and the facilities (pools, gym, spa, fine dining etc) may be wasted if you're only going to be there a few hours. I usually get a club floor room at the Leela - the club is a nice place to relax and the package includes 2-way transfers. For a 5.55 am departure I would aim to reach the airport at 4.30, therefore leaving hotel at 4.15.
