Domestic Terminal

Two-minute walk from customs to the Domestic Terminal

The SEZ Domestic Terminal is really just the small Air Seychelles corner of the main airport, a short indoor walk of only a few minutes from international arrivals. Once you clear immigration and collect your bags, you exit customs into the public hall and can already see signs and counters for Air Seychelles domestic flights. The layout is simple: counters and check-in on one side, a compact waiting area and gates for the island hops on the other.

Air Seychelles hub for hops to Praslin and the outer islands

Air Seychelles is the only carrier using the Domestic Terminal, running frequent hops to Praslin and less frequent runs to smaller islands. Flight times on the Mahe–Praslin route sit around 15 minutes, and schedules can be tight, especially early morning and late afternoon. Check-in cut-offs on these domestic flights are usually around 45 minutes before departure for checked bags, so plan to walk straight from customs to the domestic counters if you’re connecting off a long-haul.

One terminal, two sides: how the space is laid out

SEZ is effectively a single terminal split into International and Domestic, with only a few dozen steps between them. There is no separate domestic security complex buried down corridors; instead you move from the public arrivals area directly to the small domestic side. The domestic section has check-in desks, a boarding area with basic seating, and access to the short-haul gates used by Air Seychelles turboprops. Wayfinding is simple enough that multiple Reddit users mention you “can’t really get lost.”

No lounges and barely any food inside the domestic area

Inside the Domestic Terminal there are no catalogued lounges, no branded chains, and no big-name retail outlets, unlike some larger island airports. Seating by the gates is functional and fills quickly around the most popular Mahe–Praslin departures, especially in morning waves. If you want snacks or bottled water, aim to pick them up on the international side or in the public hall before you head into the domestic waiting area, because choice here is limited and may be restricted to a small kiosk if open at all.

Connection timing: treat 60 minutes as the real minimum

Regulars on Seychelles threads repeatedly quote 60 minutes as the safe gap between an international arrival and a domestic Air Seychelles departure. That hour needs to cover immigration, baggage reclaim, a two- to three-minute walk to domestic check-in, and any queue at the counters. The building is small, so walking isn’t the risk; the risk is tight check-in cut-offs combined with short domestic schedules that might only give you one or two flights per day to a smaller island.

What frequent visitors actually do between flights

People who visit Seychelles often say they head straight from customs to the domestic counters, skipping the arrivals hall shops and outside area completely. The idea is to get checked in for the Air Seychelles hop first, then think about food, ATMs, or phone SIMs if time remains. Several Reddit posters mention that with only an hour between flights, they didn’t stop even for a coffee until they were holding domestic boarding passes.

Watch out for delays and tight domestic schedules

The main complaint you see in planning threads is anxiety about misconnecting onto island flights when a widebody into Mahe runs late by 30–60 minutes. Because Air Seychelles may run just a few Praslin flights in the middle of the day, and even fewer to outer islands, a missed sector can mean a wait of several hours. With limited backup seats and small aircraft, same-day rebooking isn’t guaranteed, so build at least 90 minutes of buffer if your international leg is historically delay-prone.

One final tip

Take a screenshot of your Air Seychelles domestic booking and gate information before you land at SEZ, then on arrival walk directly from baggage reclaim to the domestic counters within five minutes; you can always look for ATMs and snacks after you have your boarding pass.