Melbourne Airport

Not Verified | All great until luggage retrieval with a 45 mins wait and luggage carousel area is so cramped. Feels like a third world airport. Airport staff were pretty helpful though.

✅ Trip Verified | Flying out on Qantas from Melbourne to Auckland. Using a shared gate (11b). Flight is late leaving, no explanation. Other flights also leaving from the same gate. No electronic board showing flights at gate, no PA system, and the gate staff (1 person) does not have a microphone or PA system. This is the worst boarding process I’ve seen in a long time.

✅ Trip Verified | I boarded my flight in Bangkok and received an excellent service and was flying Business class. On arrival back to Melbourne our plane was told to stop miles away on the tarmac, we did not go to a Gate. We had to board a Bus that took 15 minutes to get to the Building, I could not scan My passport as scanner did not work told to queue at Passport Control. I then could not see the Priority pass queue as nothing was marked. I asked and told to follow a queue of thousands of people collecting suitcases. I only had Hand Luggage. The queues were extremely long and extremely slow. Eventually after queuing I saw 3 Border security Guys and asked where should I be going for Priority and was told to go round again to go there. These staff members are very rude. I decided to go under the cordons and go round and eventually got there. A total disgusting experience and a total disgrace. What an embarrassment for Melbourne.

✅ Trip Verified | Melbourne airport just continues to feel more and more tired even though they keep making changes and renovations. The low ceilings, cramped and cluttered spaces makes the place feel like a 1990’s bus terminal. It’s disappointing as an airport should make a great first and last impression of a city. Melbourne airport is just a barely bearable experience that you just need to endure and get through as fast as possible. Really wish they would rebuild and replace the terminal.

Not Verified | I was departing to Singapore on 28 December. I had approached the counter staff where it says customer service, as my mum was on a wheelchair and needed 1 staff to push her in. Apparently, the airport does not allow family members to push anyone on wheelchair. The Woman there, was so damn rude. Totally ignored me whilst I was infront of her and was engaging in conversations with various staff. The amazing part was that the people who were talking to her 1 by 1 were also ignoring me, instead of attending me. The best part was that they were engaging in private conversations. I said excuse me and she rudely told me to wait. After 5 minutes, she acknowledges me and was rude when I told her my mum needs to eat coz she's diabetic. She was like if you chose to go then your mum can walk all the way to the plane. What kind of person says that? No empathy? If you wish to employ such staff in an international airport, please sack them as they lack empathy and have no proper training to be customer service staff. Just go home and engage in private conversations. Makes travellers look down on Melbourne with such staff. Disappointing and disgusting.

Not Verified | Recently travelled overseas to South Korea and Japan and returned home to Melbourne last Saturday. Not sure if the people running Melbourne Airport know what they're doing - we had to wait over an hour to get through Melbourne Airport security, passport control, absolutely ridiculous. Complete contrast to my experience at Seoul and Tokyo airports where even as Australian citizens, we had no problems getting through their airports quickly and efficiently. I suggest the executives at Melbourne Airport need to go overseas to experience and learn how to run an an airport efficiently.

✅ Trip Verified | Needs a train connecting to the CBD Domestic departure lounge is like a rural airport and doesn’t accommodate enough seats. Cafe area is nice enough. Will be using Sydney for future overseas travel when Brisbane can not supply a direct route since it is so easy to spend some time out of the airport between flights.

Not Verified | Terminal 3 security scanning staff are pushy, rude and officious. Having submitted to the scans and x-rays, I was attempting to gather my belt, bags and a packet of tissues that they insisted on me removing from my pocket (tissues!). The rude man at the end of the row kept parrotting "please take your possessions" at me, as if oblivious to the fact that this is what I was attempting to do. He said it four times, getting louder and more insistent each time. A normal human would offer the space and time to allow one to do this, but not this little chap. I felt humiliated and belittled by the whole process.

✅ Trip Verified | Access to Melbourne Airport remains difficult because of no rail connection and only limited drop-off time allowed. The number of check-in desks in international departures (T2) is huge but signage is good. Security and passport control were an endurance test: queues remain long in security and security staff were humourless. Melbourne has regrettably adopted the same security system as other airports like Charles de Gaulle and Brussels, in which passengers are simultaneously allotted stalls for pushing belongings onto the belt. This means competition to get one´s belongings on the belt and the likelihood of being widely separated from your belongings by the time you get through personal screening. Very stressful. Shopping on the airside is somewhat limited: a huge duty-free area, selling the same luxury goods as every other airport, but very few shops selling distinctively local items (other than tourist souvenirs made in Asia). Only two eating options in evidence: a burger outlet and a Italian-style cafe. Seating in the gate area was very limited and priority boarding not clearly indicated.

✅ Trip Verified | T3 at Melbourne Airport has been redesigned since our last experience in 2022. The changes are not necessarily improvements. We had to print our own boarding pass and baggage tag and load onto the conveyor belt. The system malfunctioned and we had to call for help. There is no direct access to departure gates (as previously); passengers now have to walk a long way to T4 to get through security, then the same distance back to reach the beginning of the concourse. All right for those without mobility problems. The airport is as ever dirty.