Melbourne Airport

✅ Trip Verified | The toilets on the way out as you get off the plane are disgusting. Dirty, some have no locks on the door, mine didn't flush, paper etc all over the floor. Not a good welcome to anyone. The rest of the departure system is quite streamlined and easy to follow.

Not Verified | Such a shame that at such a big international and domestic airport that there was no food for celiacs. Quite frustrated that it wasn't until I arrived on the gold coast that I was able to eat. We should be able to do better Melbourne.

Not Verified | Our flight Etihad arrived one hour late which is getting to be a habit for this airline but maybe it was a blessing as the airport was reasonably quiet and entering the immigration was surprised how empty it was so was through this part in 2 minutes! Baggage Hall was a lot busier though as previous flights were getting baggage but customs was pretty efficient with three lanes open. As I had no checkin baggage was into arrivals and out after 10 mins as no queuing at customs. So I think I was lucky with arriving and it was surprisingly efficient. The immigration officers were more concerned on how full the Etihad flight was as maybe this was their last plane before they went off shift so hoping it wasn’t full to which I said it was so a bit of gloomy luck after that.

✅ Trip Verified | Poor old Melbourne Airport. Built around 1970 and little has changed externally, it’s old, dirty, dated and cramped. Would easily win the Ugliest Australian airport award. Left Qantas, terminal 1 domestic, the best of a bad bunch. Not sure why there are no escalators instead steps after security necessitating carrying the wheelie carry on. There is an elevator to the left but no escalator here is confusing, why not? Toilets are not modern, usually long line ups. I looked at buying a packet sandwich but at nearly $10, no way. Returning was with Virgin but terminal 4 which meant a hike to terminal 3 for bags, however was well signed. I had to collect a lost bag from an international flight so paid the $4 trolley fee. Walking that to the shuttle area was hard with the raised yellow bumps which kept tipping it over. So little thought by overpaid degree wielding “experts”. I understand the non slip reasoning but they didn’t take trolleys into consideration at all. A sign to where things are at the crossing would help too as I went one too far.

✅ Trip Verified | Chaotic is the best description. This chaos is taking place in one of the world's dirtiest airports. Is this really a first world airport. Maybe the managers should visit a place like Adelaide or better Singapore to see how an airport should be run. The staff are generally cold and aggressive, they need to remember that the passengers are not the reason for their dismal lives, it is their choice. Melbourne you need to pick up your game.

Not Verified | Staff in the security section terminal 4 are the rudest people I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Everytime I have to come through they have no manners and are so disrespectful it is unbelievable. I cannot understand why staff with no people skills are allowed to deal with the public. Lift your game Melbourne airport & either employ or train your staff on politeness & manners.

Not Verified | Once again, Melbourne airport arrivals shows how bad things can be at a supposed first world airport. As you disembark your plane and you are walking towards passport control there are occasional ATM-like machines which are ePassport kiosks that issue a ticket to you after scanning your passport. It's not obvious how to use them or if you *need* to use them, and people often forget to take their ticket. When you reach passport control there are many people who stroll up to the ePassport validation gates who don't have tickets. They stand there for a minute or so, wondering what the hell is going on and there are often no passport control personnel monitoring these gates to detect these poor souls and direct them elsewhere. Half the validation gates don't work (with flashing red X symbols on them), and if you're not standing exactly right the machine balks at you and you have to keep trying, which just holds up and frustrates people behind you. Compare this to ePassport departures where the passport scan and photo validation is one machine/one process. How the "ticket" system is considered better or faster for *arrivals* is beyond me. Once you get through passport control, you are then presented with a potential lengthy wait for your bags. Depending on how long you wait, other flights arrive and by the time you collect your bag, there's a very long queue to be assessed for whether you are checked by customs or not. Why the heck isn't this stage also provided with some automation?

Not Verified | It was exciting to travel in/out of Melbourne Airport international T2 for which there had been significant changes compared to 2 years ago. Great to see a brand new yellow signed departure area. So much better than before. Our destination was Penang via Singapore. The new duty free area and new shops as in Tiffany & Co has made Melbourne Airport a great shopping experience. Flying Singapore Airlines made checking in a breeze as this is all now self check in. Thank you for the assistant helping us. Very friendly check-in counter staff and the e passport system is quick and straight forward. Their should be a security lane for airline staff as they had priority over anyone else which can provide a little back log at times. Arriving back in Melbourne at 4:30am with 4 other airlines arriving was quick using the e passport system. The new baggage area with the yellow illuminating numbers are a big improvement. The only downside at carousel 8 was waiting for the bag which snaked which ever way on to the conveyer belt where the wait took at least 30-40 minutes. But overall a great experience and the improvements over time are paying off. I strongly believe though a train direct to the city is well overdue even though Skybus do a great job. The airport and the freeway are only going to get busier.

Not Verified | Today I had a terrible experience at the Melbourne Airport Terminal Car park. On the way out I paid for my ticket but with kids / bags / returning international traveller I dropped my ticket at the pay booth. I did not realise this till at the boom gate to exit with a bunch of cars lined up behind me. I spoke to 'customer service' via the intercom and was told I could pay an additional $12 to exit or reverse and go to speak to the 'customer service' desk. Given these two ludicrous options I made the cars behind me reverse and found customer service desk - which was not a manned desk but a pay station with about 15 people lined up to speak to 'customer service' via an intercom. Husband ended up finding the ticket and we made out way back to boom gates - where we had to pay another $4.04 (because of course they charge a fee for credit cards) for the additional time taken with this pointless exercise. The system records my rego, time of entry, time of payment and time of exit. Your 'customer service' team could use this information to allow me to exit without all the fuss and bother or you could configure your systems to get rid of the paper ticket all together and save everyone the hassle. To choose to do otherwise is only possible in a private monopoly business.

✅ Trip Verified | We arrived at a less busy time (10 p.m.) so a comparison with previous arrivals in peak times may not be entirely accurate. But this experience was completely different. Instead of the rude and barking Border Protection officials we had encountered on previous arrivals, everyone seemed to go out of their way to be helpful and friendly. We got through the immigration processes quite smoothly and were on our way in a reasonable time. Keep it up, Melbourne Airport!