jdsprod

I am traveling to Mumbai in early February. I will arrive on a SwissAir flight at 10:30pm. My hotel is the Orchid. Any idea on travel time between the international airport and the Orchid at that time of night? Second question is the opposite. A week later, I will be finishing up work in the Bandra Kurla area at about 8pm. My SwissAir flight leaves at 12:30am. Should I plan to drive directly to the airport? Do I have time to return to the Orchid for a shower and change of clothes before heading to the international airport? I've been hearing that it takes HOURS to get checked in. Any tips on making it through faster? Any help would be appreciated.

agtoau

The Orchid is actually adjacent to the domestic airport and to get there from your international terminal at that time of the night will take about 15 minutes, 20 at most, by car.

For your outbound flight (12.30 am), you could easily take your shower at the Orchid and then start out for the airport at 9.30 am. If you are traveling business class then you could even start out later, at, say, 10 pm.

If you have a choice of hotels, then I would suggest either the Leela or the Grand Maratha Sheraton (both of which are within 4 minutes of the international airport). Other equally close hotels are Le Meridien, Hyatt Regency and Intercontinental Grand. The Hyatt Regency has deteriorated (I was there earlier this month) but is still a good bet. All these 5-star hotels are walking distance from the airport which is what makes them very convenient (given those ungodly hours at which flights take off from Mumbai).

jdsprod

Thank you agtoau. Very useful information. I am unfortunately not able to upgrade the BOM-ZRH portion of my flight, so I'll be in coach. So you think 2 hours is early enough to arrive at the airport? Thanks again for your help.

agtoau

2 hours is early enough if you are travelling Business of First Class. For economy I would budget 2.5 hours. If you have a choice of upgrade, you should do it for the BOM-ZRH sector rather than ZRH-BOM. The way out of Mumbai is more demanding than the way in, in no small measure due to the late night/early morning flights out of India.

Also: when you arrive at the international terminal from Orchid for your flight back to ZRH, you may initially be shocked to see what appears to be a zoo in front of the airport ramp. But do not panic. Although the whole system there resembles Brownian motion on a macro scale, you will eventually, in a matter of 10-12 minutes, find yourself inside the airport. The key idea is, keep your calm and wits about yourself.

jdsprod

My ticket is on American, through Zurich, then codeshare American on a Swiss airplane to Mumbai. That portion from ZRH-BOM-ZRH is not upgradable since it's actually operated by a non-oneworld carrier. So once I get back to Zurich, I can upgrade home, but unfortunately not to or from Mumbai. Thanks for the information, I had heard the airport is crazy. I heard something about skycaps, wearing vests, that can walk you right to the front of the lines. Any thought on that?

agtoau

Once you are inside the airport building itself, the proceedings are fairly systematic. It is only the dynamics outside the airport building that initially shock the uninitiated. But take it all as part of the experience that is India. If Orchid is arranging the car ride, you could request the driver to help you get the cart etc. Like I said earlier, if you can change the hotels to any of the ones I cited, do so. Remember: for the dollar-armed, India is now a very comfortable place and many of these establishments are world-class.

Also: I think Swiss is now part of the Oneworld alliance. The ride to Bombay and back from Zurich is on an Airbus 330. Request an aisle seat on the side columns and you should be comfortable. The service in Swiss is good, but does not compare to the superior quality of the now-defunct Swissair.

Kate_W

Someone advised me that procedures are simpler if I only have carry-on baggage(because I won't have to line up to clear my check-in luggage in security before proceeding to check myself in). Is this true? What exactly is happening in the crowd outside the terminal and why does it take 10 minutes to get inside?

agtoau

Kate_W, yes, the procedures are simpler if you have only carry-on luggage. But that is the same case even in America: you don't have to go through an additional level of screening the bags.

As for your other question concerning what is happening outside the airport - there are, in the main, two problems. One is the design of the terminal itself, which is thoughtless, with no regard to how the inflow of traffic will be processed, no systematic handling of temporary parking for offloading etc. Second is the Indian temperament, which has no understanding of or regard for the word "queue" (everyone wants to cut ahead and be first in the line). When these two factors are wedded the result is chaos.

All the departure traffic chokes at the point outside the curb, taxis stopping to offload passengers and luggage, horns blaring, people anxiously looking for carts, and so on. What should have been a linear procedure is thus rendered highly non-linear.

jdsprod

Are you familiar with the Bandra Kurla area of Mumbai? If so, how much time should I allow to get to the International airport from that area of town on a Sunday night?

Sameera_Anand

At about nine it will take u 45 mins - an hour from Bandra Kurla to the airport. I would suggest u leave as soon as u finish work at 8 - if u reach vicinity of the airport early you can freshen up and have refreshments in one of the hotels suggested by Agtoau or the leela hotel - all 5 mins from the airport.