BOM transfer times

[Elwood Senese]

Advice needed with transfer times.
I’m travelling into BOM for the first time. I arrive T2 and need to book a separate domestic flight to Goa that will depart from T1, which I believe is some distance away.
My question to those who know BOM is how long shall I leave between flights? I am scheduled to arrive at 11:55, will be travelling with VS in J, carrying hand baggage only.
Thanks
ES

[Globaliser]

Just to kick this off, my online OAG says International -> Domestic has a Minimum Connection Time of 3:00.

Of course, this is technically inapplicable to your trip because you'll be on two separate tickets, but it may be worth remembering that even if you were through-ticketed you would have no misconnection protection from the airlines if your connection was less than the MCT. On separate tickets, I would always add a bit more time unless I was confident that I would get looked after by the second airline were I to misconnect.

[renfrew]

I went to Goa a couple of years ago,transfering from BA to Indian Airlines.The terminals are several miles apart and I ended up taking a taxi.
The international terminal was chaotic,the domestic one not too bad.(There is more than one domestic building ,depending which airline you are travelling with)
You should regard the 3 hours mentioned above as the barest minimum.
Security checks were completely over the top with long queues.
Goa itself is fantastic-enjoy.
Ken.

[cdb]

Elwood

Have you been to the developing world before? If not, even the taxi will be... an experience!

3hrs sounds possible, but I would suggest 4 as the ride between the terminals can take an hour in itself.

A hint - when you come out out of baggage claim, you'll see a taxi booking booth on your right. Book a cab there and ask for a "Coolcab" - these are much more modern, much safer and have air con. They cost about 30% extra but it'll be insignificant for someone travelling in J!

[Jordan D]

Honestly depends - Jet Airways do transfers from the International Arrivals area, and are very good BOM-Goa (personal experience). Can advise more details in 48hrs, once family member passes thru BOM T2 arrivals.

Jordan

[rsoman]

A few things
Your Virgin flight arrives at 1155. Around that time is the Jet Airways flight inbound from LHR as is an AI flight on most days . So immigration queues can be long.

Last Jet flight is at 1435. Provided you book your tickets in advance for BOM GOI (forget about booking on arrival - this is the peak season to GOI), as soon as you clear customs, as mentioned by Jordan D, there is a Jet counter which you can check in a nd get a boarding pass for the BOM GOI flight. This effectively means if your VS flight lands on time you have 90 min to spare to get a boarding pass. After that you will be directed to an AIR SIDE transfer (tarmac transfer within the airport) service operated by Airports Authority of India for all airlines. Now this bus will take you to the domestic departure terminal building (but landside) where you by pass the normal check in queues and go straight to the security before the Departure gate area.

Further details here

http://www.jetairways.com/Cultures/en-US/Products+and+Services/On+Ground+Services/Check-In/


(Scroll down to the "check in at Mumbai" section).

The last Indian airlines flight from the domestic terminal leaves at 1525,a good hour after Jet. There is no reason why you cannot use the same AIRSIDE transfer facility described above, as it is operated by Airports Authority for all transit passengers. But I am not sure whether Indian Airlines have a similar check in coutner like Jet in the international arrivals area. If not on arrival at the domestic terminal you will have tio check in along with the domestic passengers. But Indian Airlines has a separate "Hand Baggae only" , so that should speed up your case.

And finally, although not many people know it, there are four flights a week on the BOM Goa sector which leaves from the international terminal itself. All these flights connect with your Virgin flight.

Air India (AI 855) on Wednesdays leaves at 1555 while Indian Airlines (IC 597) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays leave at 1600. In all these cases you still have to clear customs and immigration at Mumbai (unless you are connecting to the AI flight from another Air india international flight- in which case you clear customs at Goa). Oncve you clear customs and immigration at BOM, you go to the departure area of the same terminal and check in fresh.

Hope this clarifies.

Cheers

[Cyrano]

Globaliser said:
it may be worth remembering that even if you were through-ticketed you would have no misconnection protection from the airlines if your connection was less than the MCT.
Sorry for a brief off-topic digression, but Globaliser, surely one consequence of the MCT system is that the GDS will prevent the booking of a through-ticketed itinerary which doesn't respect the MCT? Or am I being touchingly naive?:(

[Globaliser]

Sorry for a brief off-topic digression, but Globaliser, surely one consequence of the MCT system is that the GDS will prevent the booking of a through-ticketed itinerary which doesn't respect the MCT? Or am I being touchingly naive?:(As I understand it, the GDS detection systems can be overriden. And computers never go never go wrong, do they? :D (I sometimes see big online travel agents offering connections which I know are "illegal".)

The most frequent example I know is the related protection for turnarounds at destination. Some people ask for this to be overriden because they're flying to a destination and immediately turning round and flying back on the same aircraft. Often, this requires the detection system to be overriden by the sales agent, after a health warning and (I assume) a note in the PNR. (I hear about this from people who fly these trips just for the frequent flyer credit.)

[rsoman]

Well to add my ten penny bit being familiar with thethe GDS industry.

Globaliser is absolutely correct. MCTs can be over ridden. In fact the first time I used a GDS as a travel agent more than a decade back, the one I was using did not have an automatic check of the itinerary booked to verify MCTs. A second manual entry had to be done to verify the same and if an agent forgot (which could happen) and if he/she had booked connection segments in separate transactions , passengers ended up with missed connections.

Nowadays the checks are automatic. Before the agent completes the booking the itinerary (or in airline terms the PNR), even if the segments are sold independently, the system gives a warning about "inadequate" connection times. However, with one more command, the agent can override it.

There are a number of reasons why sometimes the "illegal" connection can indeed be legal. One of course is the turnaround protection, another can be carrier specific exceptions - what I have talked about earlier is one instance.
Air India operates quite a few domestic flights leaving from the international terminal at BOM, and for these flights if you are flying into BOM on Air India itself, reduced connecting times will apply compared to published MCTs since passengers flying in on these flights say from London will clear customs and immigration at the final Indian destination such as GOI or TRV.However most of these "carrier exceptions" are now fed into the GDS systems, so illegal connections showing up will be mostly happening due to travel agents over riding the same. Yet another reason is that MCTs sometimes are not in tune with realities. With the exception of BOM and DEL, in most other international airports in India like Madras or Trivandrum , the transfer to the domestic terminal is a 5 minute walk!!!

And finally - computer systems can be manipulated no end. so it is perfectly possible to have a computer printed ticket having OK status when there would not be a booking. In some countries the laws and penalties are strict enough to dissuade any malpractices, but in many countries in Asia and Africa, anything goes!. So a follow up call to the local airline office to check the status of your booking may be a wise investment. Or else many airlines such as Indian Airlines allow you to do the same using their website.


Cheers

[Elwood Senese]

Been out of the office for a few days… Thanks to all for their advice.

It looks like the tight connection will be less fraught than I first feared.

Cheers