Length of Time to transfer from International Airport in Mumbai to Domestic Airport

Hello everyone,

I'm booking tickets for a trip from D.C. to Jodhpur, and currently it looks like one of my best deals includes 2.5 hours between my international and domestic flights in Mumbai. Will this be enough time to transfer flights? Conversely, I do have an itinerary offering an 8 hour layover in Mumbai- which flight schedule would I be better off going with?

This is one of the most commonly asked questions here.

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you'll find a listing of "similar threads." Opening any of those, you will find a similar listing underneath them again. Etc.

You should find some answers there.

Those airports are right adjacent, but then again domestic or international flights can get delayed by who knows how long, of course.

I think and assuming you've never been there, I'd give myself a night or two (three, four) in Mumbai just to acclimatize and make sure I make my next flight. (That is to say 2.5 hours would strike me as risky, whereas 8 hours if everything is on time would be rather long, yet still not reasonably allowing you to make a dash into the city, at least I would rather not dare it. Depending on the time of day, you can count on some 1 to rather 2 hours for the sake of safety to get forth and back. One-way, that is, so double that. And into the (downtown) city I mean, like I said the airports are just next door to one another, and there'll be shuttle buses connecting the two and etc. Probably safe to allow for something like a half hour to get from the one to the other nonetheless, and not counting check-in procedures and whatnot. Queues can be huge and never very fast to move btw, depending on what's going on.

And then some "getting into" your new surroundings can certainly never hurt, anyway. So by having a rest there, and a bit of a look around.

All a matter of length of stay and purpose too, of course. Is it a dashed business trip, or a several-weeks holiday? And so forth.)

If the plane has an on-time arrival, it is sufficient time. It also helps listing which airlines you intend to take. After Customs, you will need to re-check your baggage for the domestic portion of the flight, at that point the domestic airline will give you a boarding pass. Take a courtesy shuttle to the domestic airport.

But how indeed will you know if it will? If anything's up, you could be circling overhead for hours.

It's happened to me often enough, anywhere in the world, but certainly in India. C'mon, NYC, you're the plane buff. Do you think this a reasonable scenario? I wouldn't want to say (and so all I can say is to be on the safe side I wouldn't advise to bet on the 2.5 hours, no.)

Read my whole post If you use some basic logic -

1. One can reasonably predict the statistical outcome based on past on-time performance for the airline on that pair.

2. A non-stop flight from US to India (currently) on a 777-LR or ER has just about 30 min fuel to spare, so circling for hours overhead is out of question.

3. A Boeing 767 or an Airbus 330 class bird from CDG or AMS has about 45 minute of extra fuel before it has to land, because of ETOPS 60.

4. Depending on the airline, I can cluster analyse how much time a passenger might take to clear all hurdles. My best front-of-the-plane timing from wheel touchdown to light-your-cigarette is 28 minutes avg. 45 minutes. Worst, 65 minutes (which as pre 9/11)

5. Operationally, BOM is getting better in processing passengers (the H1N1 health-inspection being suspended, timing for a non-clumsy or non-wheel-chair-assisted passenger should be improving.

6. India does not follow US's lead on boarding processes for domestic. i.e checkin 60 minutes before take off.

So... Devil, my dear Watson, is in the detail. And, details are clearly lacking.

Thanks for the quick replies! I actually opted for the 8-hour layover simply because of price- I know it's a rather long wait, but I'm sure I can manage for a few hours. I'm arriving with Emirates, and my flight to Jodhpur is with Jet Airways. Also, would it be preferable to wait in the international or the domestic terminal?

As for the trip itself, Machadinha, I'm actually participating in a nine week internship with a health society in Jodhpur this summer, and I'll be touring India some as well during that time period. I'd love to have a look around in Mumbai when I touch down, but I believe I'll definitely have the opportunity later in my stay. And thanks for the tip about the similar threads- it does seem that my question is rather popular, lol- my apologies.

LOL, don't mention it and don't worry about it.

I think those eight hours would be more than ample yes (or ought to be, unless the skies come down upon us).

I don't know the domestic airport, so can't say which is best for waiting. Note if you're a smoker like me, unlike last year when at least I didn't find it, this year I found there's a bar & restaurant at the international terminal that has a smoking room. (Typical kind of depressing little room where you only need to step in to get your nicotine fix.) There'll likely be some guy(s) lugging you over to there anyway, then expecting a handsome tip. No good reason I'd say, for the reason below. And if they don't ensnare you, just ask around for it. It's after you've gone through the whole immigrations rigmarole I think, so in your case probably before you want to do anything else (hm, or coming in you might never pass by here? Not sure really.)

You're probably expected to order a drink here, at some Rs. 350 if it isn't 450 for a small beer (!) (By comparison, I've only seen such prices at the Taj hotel I think.) I imagine they'd have likewise way overpriced soft drinks and stuff (come to think of it, I seem to recall seeing tea etc. on their menu at a rate that I must have done my best not to remember). Once you've done that though, you can smoke here (and take your drink inside) to your heart's content.

btw Thanks NYC for your elucidations, that all sounds very logical yes.

nb If you want to step outside, note non-passengers aren't allowed in I think, and passengers only a few hours before departure. And/or you may have to pay a small fee to go in when you don't have an immediate flight coming up.

I'm not sure what the current deal is in Mumbai, but in any case, make some good enquiries about this before stepping out, and get some cash from an ATM or money exchanger inside first. You wouldn't be the first to find yourself outside with no Rupees, that you'll need to get back in to go and get them.

I gather you'll be flying EK from JFK, So, its probably IAD/DCA-JFK-DXB-BOM-JDH

How much luggage ? If your whole itinerary is in one ticket i.e you did not buy separate tickets for IAD/DCA-JFK, JFK-DXB-BOM and BOM-JDH, then you might have re-check to your baggage without extra charges. Your flight from BOM-JDH will be in a puddle-jumper a.k.a ATR 72, which is a small plane where luggage space is tight.

Actually, even with this past Monday evening's incident with EK at JFK (recalling the plane from the taxiway to terminal and deplaning paxs and arresting a suspect in the failed bombing in Times Square), the flight would have still made the connection in Dubai for an onward journey to BOM

Um, yes. I can't say I find your airlines lingo and codes and abbreviations always easy to follow, sorry. Maybe you could spell out some of that stuff for us not so into the field?

But anyway the person would have wanted to connect in Mumbai no, the issue wasn't about how they'd fare in Dubai? But then I may well be overlooking something.

Google is your friend If one is still procrastinating - Here is a site to book mark - http://www.world-airport-codes.com

It is Washington DC(two airports) to JFK (New York) to Dubai to Mumbai to Jodhpur.

Re-read the full thread; and your machinations about delays and on-time arrival.

If the JFK to Dubai Emirates flight that was pulled over from the taxiway, that flight had it been delayed more than critical max limit, the passenger would have missed the Dubai to Mumbai connection. This would exceed your many hours circling in the air scenario.

Elementary dear Dr. Watson, I must say ..