Melbourne Airport

Melbourne Airport is in serious need of an update especially the check-in areas. The International Terminal has had some recent renovations and is okay. Staff at the airport seem to be rude and complicate the check in process. The airport is not dirty but it could be cleaner. Queuing was quick outbound through passport control and on return through immigration customs and quarantine.

I've used several times the Qantas domestic terminal (for departure arrival and transit) and I find it fine: the Qantas self check-in is fast and efficient and luggage delivery is also usually quick. The international terminal instead is not so good especially on arrival: the arrivals area feels drab and immigration / customs is slow. On departure this year there was only one security gate open (with several flights departing) and thus 30 min plus of queue to clear security. Int'l departures area however is fine. I recommend this airport for domestic and transit on Qantas domestic not really for international flights.

On a trip from Auckland to Perth on Qantas in July with my 75 year old parents we chose to transit through Melbourne rather than Sydney as we thought it would be easier not to have to use a shuttle bus to change terminals. Unfortunately our experience of Melbourne Airport was pretty poor. On the positive side of things our baggage arrived on the conveyor belt promptly. However we were way over at Conveyor Belt 5 even though there were closer Conveyor Belts available. Exiting into the arrivals hall we followed the signs for Qantas domestic transfers. We quickly discovered that the travelator up to the Domestic departures level was not functioning and there was no marked alternative. In the end my father had to push our loaded trolley up this conveyor belt. Once we got up to Qantas departures there was no indication for where International Transfer passengers should go. Having finally sorted that out we went through security and struck the most rude abrupt security staff ever. They showed absolutely no patience for those people who take a little longer to get through security. We then had a long walk to our gate. Our experience led my father to say that he will never transit through Tullamarine again.

The outbound International Terminal is poor but has improved slightly due to additions of new eating places. More choice is always good. Coming into Australia is another thing all together. Waiting time is long at each stage and most staff surly and unwelcoming. Melbourne Airport is probably one of the worst major city airports I have experienced.

Departing internationally wasn't too bad. Check in was as expected along with immigration. I object to having walk through Duty Free shop to get from immigration to gate. Arrival was a shambles. So many available immigration booths but so few being used (9pm Sunday). One funny moment were the Immigration with a Smile stickers on each booth and a surly officer on the other side. Get through that and find carousel 5 and head for customs. We declared food and some mats. On seeing my wife and daughters had Philippine passports an officer sent us to line 5. Here an officer basically accused us of carrying all sorts of illegal foods and when I said no he sneered "we will find it". After that they let the sniffer dog loose. He quickly found the pizza in my daughters bag. "you better have declared that" snapped the officer and was deflated when I showed him her card. We were then all sent on our way not bothering to check anything else.

Melbourne Tullamarine is a total joke to say the least. From its world renown exorbitant parking fees to its slow immigration procedure it left this airport nothing to be desired by fellow passengers. The airport has one of the craziest immigration system I have ever encountered. Once I got through the passport control I was faced by thousands of passengers queuing up for custom clearance as I happened to bring one or two packets of green teas from my trip back from Asia. By the time I had my luggage tampered by the custom officials I just could not wait any longer but to rush out of the airport to sigh a great relief.

The last 3 times i have picked up or dropped off people I have been hassled immediately on pulling up at the front of the terminal. "Yes the signs say you have one minute for drop off and pickup. It takes that long to make sure you are parked properly to alight the vehicle go to the rear and get heavy bags out let alone say goodbye at the kurbside. One pickup I had the lady on the phone as to my pickup position. She was approaching my vehicle at night 5 degrees wind chill and I was threatened with a $250 fine if I did not move. Go around the block was the answer. It took 20 minutes in the Friday night traffic. I got back she was frozen no sooner had she got into the car and another idiot was telling me to move. There was a double row of cars 200 metres long next to me with a gap of half a metre. Many people have had the same problem. It maybe time to extend the time by a few more minutes to actually give time to get their bags or seatbelt adjusted without being hassled.

Travelled both domestic and international a dozen times over the past two years. Domestic first - generally quick check in (except morning/afternoon peak) reasonable food options and not too far to walk to the aircraft gates. Same rating as most of others both here and overseas. International - outbound first. Given they have spent a fortune every dollar has been worth it the one exception being long queues to get through both security and customs that we did not have at either LAX nor JFK nor SIN. International inbound - in a word hopeless. I'm comparing to similar size airports around the world Be prepared to 'greeted' by bland walkways with no windows and signage that seems to be 30 years old. Not even a welcome to Melbourne sign and a bit of greenery would not go astray. If another flight arrives at the same time you'll wait an hour to get through customs/passport control. Luckily the bags came through in less than 15 mins. Hopefully they do something as its an embarrassment to International visitors. Gave one rating less due to parking costs. Love to know how they justify it!

Domestic departure/arrival on weekday/weekend respectively. With web check-in and carry-on baggage we didn't experience any delays on departure or arrival. The Virgin terminal however is rather dull and dingy at the departure gates and seems overdue for refurbishing. Basic cafe facilities are fine if you want a coffee and snack before leaving and the toilets were clean and appeared well-maintained. On this occasion unlike our previous visit the relative lack of traffic meant that our shuttle bus was able to drop us at the departure level.

Generally a bad experience starting with traffic management at departure long queues that are badly managed - both the layout and traffic controls who are overly rude. On arrival baggage takes far too long to come out +20min wait is not uncommon and then once again there is the traffic management. Improvements to the pick-up and drop-off areas have been made but the flow of traffic in and out and the rude traffic controls negate the improvements. I go though Melbourne airport every week and it is by far the worst airport experience in Australia.