Melbourne Airport

Melbourne is my home city and I give the airport 1/10. The cleanliness of the airport was entry-level and could be better - particularly the toilets. As I proceeded to immigration, my line was quick as I am an Australian citizen, but the foreign passengers line and the ePassport line were very long. As I breezed through immigration, I had to wait another half hour for my bag to come. In general, I would avoid Melbourne.

Terminal 4 is a disgrace if that is the best we can create in Australia. I probably started my long awaited trip to Hobart for a special occasion, only to find the 6.15 am flight was delayed to 8.50 am. No, Jetstar finally had this flight depart at 9.35 am. This isn't world standard, particularly when you consider this stupidly designed terminal. There is congestion at the entry to two exit points. Tiger Air/Virgin and Jetstar gate entries converge within metres of each other. These entries also serve to provide exits for incoming passengers from all flights. Jetstar passengers are expected to cover long, long corridors prior to exiting the chaos in the "departure" lounge. Better known as a food hall with a few retail shops thrown in. Toilet facilities are inadequate, so don't wait until your flight is called. Passengers are only advised of their departure gates when flights are called for boarding. I observed most passengers then rushing along the ridiculously long corridors to the designated departure gates where there is insufficient seating when the flights are further delayed. The absolute worst flight experience I have experienced and I have flown to Europe and Asia. Certainly wont be flying Jetstar again - pay the extra.

Poorly organised. Inadequate signage and queue demarkation. Leading to confused clusters of passengers with no idea what line they are in or if there are other queues ahead (smart gate for e-passports). Customs line is always ridiculously long. For such a busy airport and strict rules it needs to be better staffed to accomode everyone. Takes hours to get through it all. Staff are friendly and helpful given the stress they are under. Terminal is clean and presentable.

Just arrived into Melbourne from Singapore and the contrast between airports couldn't be greater. Long queues at the immigration (and I'm talking 1.5h wait time), with 4 immigration officers desperately trying to process the crowd of at least 4 planes arriving simultaneously. Even airline staff and express card holders had wait times in excess of 30min. When I started using my mobile phone out of boredom I got told off by an immigration officer. When asking for the reason for the hold up, I got told that this would be all the resources given for immigration processing. But why did I keep seeing officers standing in the background having time for leisurely chit-chat? Wake up Australia! I've seen more efficient airports in countries with much less resources. To all striking officer - this is not how you gain support from tax payers.

I have to say that this was one of the worst airports I had been to in terms of customs personnel attitude. I was traveling with my elderly folks who did not utter a word of English and they were not able to cross the automated clearance machines, my sister and myself were told by the staff rudely to move away from the area. My parents were in a state of panic and none of the staff would listen to us. Assistance was only rendered to our folks when the lines piled up and they had no choice but to attend to them. That's what I call service with an attitude. Definitely the last trip for us to an otherwise beautiful city.

A horrible airport, shocking misfit to this beautiful city of Melbourne. Queues and queues, understaffed immigration. Fit to handle only 2 people per minute. It's a long walk everywhere, absolutely no consideration for elderly, children and tired travellers. It costs money for everything, even a basic trolley and can't you can't find friendly assistance other than long faced officers.

A bad experience at Melbourne Terminal 4. A simple transit turned into a stressful and unnecessarily long march. Firstly the walk across the tarmac and trudge up the stairs showed poor design. Then there was the very long walk to the baggage claim. Not much fun if you have any walking disability combined with no travelators and the look and feel of a military aircraft hanger. For someone not acquainted with the airport there was virtually no signage to guide you. We didn't know how to get to the next terminal to change from a domestic flight to an international one. So a long and sweaty walk from the aircraft to the baggage claim was made worse by the uncertainty of how we were going to get to the next terminal and what it would involve. This was all compounded by the complete lack of Jetstar staff as all "passenger advice" desks were abandoned at 9:30pm and their check in system insisting we were going to Auckland rather than Tokyo. I had a low opinion of Sydney airport and always expect Melbourne to do these things better but it was a shocker.

Melbourne Terminal 4 is the terminal from hell - no aero bridges with a walk of at least 200 metres to cover. This follows a walk of at least a kilometre and more to the baggage collection area. No seats during this ordeal and as my wife is in her 70s and asthmatic she had to stop several times to rest. After collecting our baggage we had to walk a further 400 metres to the rental vehicle office which is outside the main terminal - no luggage trolleys were available. Terminal 4 is new and totally dysfunctional - it is almost as though travellers are being punished for using budget carriers Tiger and Jetstar. I have vowed never to use them again to fly to Melbourne if T4 is involved.

Horrible experience last night at Melbourne Airport - Terminal T4. Travelling with an 88 year old and 78 year old. Firstly the plane used stairs not an airbridge thereby forcing elderly people down slippery, steep stairs in the rain. Secondly, having to wait (with the helpful and friendly Jetstar cabin crew) for wheelchairs to come, only to 'eventually' be told that they had been "locked up for the night." Thirdly, parking the plane at the furthest gate of the terminal and forcing passengers to walk a great distance even though there were no other scheduled arrivals (12.30am), could you really not have used a sky-bridge? Finally, construction work at the pick up/drop off point inhibiting everyone access to the T4 drop off/pick up area even though there was not 1 sign stating the closure of the T4 drop off/pick up area with signs directing me to the multi story car park not terminal 4. As access to T4 was not possible my Grandparents had to walk from T4 to T3 at 1am, this is unacceptable. One may suggest good service can only be received by the other terminals and Qantas or Virgin Carriers yet we have had numerous other negative incidences with this airport. Double and triple check you have requested wheelchair access as this airport is useless. On an unrelenting note their is a distinct lack of variety of food venues throughout every terminal and the prices are absurd. Parking prices are ridiculous and the new parking precedure for T1, 2 and 3 is stupid, how are disabled people and the elderly to walk from the terminal to the park-royal?

I expected that Terminal 4 in Melbourne would be a state of the art facility, but I was wrong. The way they have designed the airport is really poor. There are long walks to the gates. Still not using aero bridges so the facilities appear dated. Food and beverage options before you enter the gates are quite adequate but if you get to the gate and want something it's a long walk back. Check in facilities are great, they are all self serve, and I love how the public buses now go to one direct area, but the stops are confusing.