Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is the international airport serving Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the second-busiest airport in India in terms of total and international passenger traffic after Delhi, the 14th-busiest airport in Asia, and the 31st-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic in 2024.
I first arrived at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at the end of December 2025, flying IndiGo from Tbilisi. We stayed a few days in Mumbai before continuing onward to Goa with Air India.
Mumbai’s airport has a long history. It was originally built in 1942 during World War II and has since evolved into India’s second-busiest airport. The modern Terminal 2 (T2)—used for most international flights and some domestic ones—opened in 2014, replacing the older international terminal.
In recent years, CSMIA has handled around 45–52 million passengers annually (pre- and post-COVID recovery range), serving as a critical hub for both international traffic and domestic connections. Mumbai offers some of the best onward flight connectivity in India, especially to destinations like Goa, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai.
The airport feels large but well-organized. Signage is clear, security and immigration were efficient, and passenger flow was manageable given the volume.
One clear highlight is the huge food court inside the terminal. There’s a wide selection of international brands alongside local Indian outlets. While the choice is broad, I did miss the chance to find a proper fish masala, which I was specifically looking for. Plenty of options—just not that particular one.
Getting around: airport transport
Getting in and out of the airport is straightforward:
- Local taxi: For the first ride, we used a local airport taxi, which worked fine and was easy to arrange on arrival.
- Uber: For everything afterward, Uber was the preferred option—predictable pricing, easy pickups, and generally reliable within Mumbai.
Both options are practical, but for repeat trips, app-based rides were clearly more convenient.
One small but unexpected find was at the airport bookstore, where I noticed a fun, beginner-friendly options trading crash course by Indrazith Shantaraj among the top-selling books. Not something you expect to see prominently displayed at an airport in India, and a reminder of how broad—and global—retail tastes at Mumbai Airport actually are.
Mumbai Airport does what a major hub should: efficient, well-connected, and functional at scale. It handled international arrival, a city stay, and a domestic onward flight without friction. As a gateway to both Mumbai and the rest of India, it performs solidly.
