12 hours at Mumbai Airport - International or Domestic?

The AI flight from London arrives in Mumbai at 1.30am. My connecting flight from the Domestic Airport is at 1.00pm. Allowing for baggage claim, immigration formalities, customs etc. it would leave me with about 10 hours to kill.

Are Airport Transfer buses running at that time of night?
Which airport would be more comfortable for spending the night in?
How bad are the mosquitoes in June?


What are your thoughts on my options?

you know if you are laloo prasad...you are a priviledged one!..after all the things you have done!...you should have no problem. your posse will be waiting to receive you and shower you with what not..ask and its done...

I was in a scenario like this one last year. The problem is since there are no domestic flights (or am I wrong?) at night the domestic terminal is pretty much closed and there are not too many things to do there. We arrived to the domestic airport at around three (our flight was at six) and we had to sit by the entrance of the airport until the check-in was opened etc.

diplomacy

diplomacy - looks lke the first few hours would be spent at the International terminal, then a change of scenery.

There are some chairs near the exit just after clearing customs and past the kiosks.

lalooprasadyadav: Yes, that's a good idea. We went straight from international to domestic which was a huge mistake! Although, not sure what facilites there are at the international terminal either... but, sitting at the domestic entrance for two hours wasn't that nice I can assure you!

But don't worry about transportation. There are regular buses going between the terminals! If you are flying with Air Deccan, Jet Airways or SpiceJet, it's the first stop (unless my memory lets me down!)

diplomacy

Laloo,
Stay in the international airport, much better by far. Any way they will not let you into the domestic airport itself until it is time for you to go through the security. that means stay on the sidewalk only.
Gypsie

In my experience the busses are running the whole night. I prefer domestic. There is a restaurant at the second floor to hang around, couple of shops downstares and some chairs. I slept on the floor.

domestic is better.

buses run whole night. you can check in for the domestic flight at the international airport so you dont have to lug your bags around. you will get a loo, food, a resteraunt, phone and internet...

but... there may be a crowd there, so you may not get a seat!

Considering the flight time (arrival at 1:30 am and departure at 1 pm) it is not a good idea to be at either airport for the time you have. I would suggest going to a nearby hotel for a short stay there and get fresh for the flight the next afternoon. Hotels are available for about Rs900 (single non airconditioned room with attached bath) to Rs1500 (airconditioned double rooms with attached bathroom). If you still insist on staying at either of the airports then I would suggest staying in the international airport for the night and then taking the bus in the morning to the Domestic terminal. The buses run throughout the night but there is not much you can do in the domestic airport at night so it is better to stay in the arrival hall of the international airport with your luggage. If it is a Jet Airways flight from the domestic terminal then you can check in for your onward journey from the international terminal itself. So no need to take your luggage with you. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.

Thanks for the info, everyone. I've chickened out! Decided to pay a little more - flying in at 7.30am by Virgin Airways. Much more civilised waiting period. 17 days to go.

Laloo,
Have a nice safe holiday, I sure wish it was I going back to India, I do miss that country. My turn will come at the end of this year. I do not take the heat.
Gypsie