Mauritius MRU Airport Reviews | S. Seewoosagur Ram. International Airport

I ‘ IN & OUT ‘ of this Airport quite frequently( about 20 times a year) on Business, for Long Haul (Europe & Far East), Inter Island hops (La Reunion, Seychelles & Madagascar) & Domestic(Rodrigues).
I have no major complaints at all.
It’s not Terminal 5 at LHR but over the years I have witnessed the Airport authorities trying to adapt and upgrade to meet increasing traffic and needs.

They have to, as it is the only entry point really to the Island of Mauritius which is a top grade resort destination, and the economy depends heavily on tourism .
The Terminal is busy in the mornings with a wave of departures to Europe. & others to Long ,medium haul and local destinations, and especially busy in the evenings –mainly to Europe and Asia.
In the middle of the day the place is nearly empty.
However there are plenty of check in counters and Premium class & Fast bag drops etc are indicated.
Queues are usually not long.
At weekends it is very busy all day with Island hops (La Reunion -30 mins,Rodrigues 90 mins and Madagascar 60 mins)
The short hop flights to La Reunion are quite often operated by wide body jets –Air Austral 777’s and Air Mauritius Airbus 330’s or 340’s. as well as a batch of ATR 72’s. so the terminal can become crowded.
All passengers whether international or domestic (to the Mauritius run Island of Rodrigues) are channelled together. The Rodrigues Imnmigration channel is not always well marked, and so you have to ask which queue to join to avoid a wasted wait.
Inside the Departure area there is a very good duty free shopping area, if that’s what you want.
The catering area on the other hand is not impressive.
Arriving in Mauritius. Immigration procedures are not fast, but well signed for different categories. Conference delegates, Tourists, Mauritian Nationals ,each have their own lines. the baggage is delivered quite efficiently, but there are only 2 carousels and sometimes the same carousel is dedicated to more than one flight.
There is a duty free area here to for arriving passengers.
The Good News is …..for those who would like it better, there is a brand new, and fabulous looking new terminal going up fast adjacent to the existing one.
Should be open in 2013 I was told.