Melbourne Airport

Not Verified | Arrival here was pretty average, domestic Virgin terminal and lovely carpets. The loos near my gate had recently been redone and so there was an all gender toilet which I really appreciated. The charter bus station was a bit of a walk however. Outgoing on the other hand, they needed ID for me to collect my boarding pass, as well as for a literal 10-year-old in our travel party. This was not done on our departing leg by the same airline. The security ques were fine. I skew gender-nonconforming so I usually can't use a millimeter wave scanner so I just used the body x-ray, however the 10 year old from earlier had to despite being in contradiction of policy. They also had the newer 'Smiths Detection' scanners, although this is not advertised so it took forever to get things back in bags. I managed to have a panic attack since the tub nearly went back through the machine with my wallet in it. They also bomb tested the 10 year old, again don't quite see how that is okay. The toilets in the food hall are disgusting with no gender neutral option. Boarding procedures are ambiguous which lead to another panic attack. I am quite glad I don't have to fly international here.

Not Verified | Horrible airport to use. Rabbit warren oppressive low ceiling. Last trip I went through 5 other airports some regional airports in Asia and Melbourne is hands down the worst. Arrival is painful experience not helped by government agencies. 1) Our plane docked at a gate adjacent to a flight from Indonesia, both planes funnelled across a door mat to disinfect shoes but one door mat was setup at the top of an escalator and stairs all been chocked into single file, it was dangerous there was no signage no communication. 2) After the door mat which was on tiles the floor was dangerously slippery for 10 meters as peoples shoes were covered in whatever the stuff was. 3. The egate system for passports is too few for the number of travelers, the system has been in place for over 10 years its open to more countries but the number of gates remains the same. Experience in Singapore for the transit immediately before is 100 times better. 3) Baggage wait was 1 hr 15 minutes and we weren't the last again, worst experience by a clear margin, crew people with priority tags still waiting upwards of 45 minutes.

✅ Trip Verified | What a shambles. From exiting the plane to exiting the airport over two hours. No signage to assist passengers to know what to do or where to go. Simply not enough space to accommodate the arriving passengers. Queue after queue with no staff. No logical process at all. Thousands of people crowding luggage carousels contributed to nobody knowing where the queue for customs started or ended. And worst of all, customs staff simply throwing their hands in the air (or worse still, watching the debacle unfold). I'm Australian and I was incredibly embarrassed by the complete lack of organisation and service. As well as being terrible customer service, it was dangerous. The worst airport experience I've endured (and I've transited LAX and Heathrow multiple times).

Not Verified | T4 Jetstar. Overcrowded, nowhere to sit while waiting for gate announcements. Gate announced as boarding commenced (and given size of t4 could have been an issue) Jetstar issue as Rex area ok.

✅ Trip Verified | What a terrible Airport. There was a one an half hour delay in getting bags even for business class passengers. The airport is small, inadequate, old with filthy toilets. I walked to be picked up by a Family member, pushing my baggage cart in pouring rain, they don’t have the sense to provide a covered walkway! There was no explanation or communication from the baggage services area Horrible!

✅ Trip Verified | It’s lovely to see Melbourne airport becoming more alive. However for the most part it is dungeon like. It is not for passengers enjoyment or convenience. There is less for passengers than from the day it opened. The viewing area was always good. They shut that down as the people in the high end lounges didn’t want to see the unwashed masses from their window. There is no pleasure coming here. It is in desperate need of expansion and a makeover. The toilets are awful, and have not had any improvements for many years. It has no heart, no soul and is getting too crowded even in non peak times. The best thing about it is having all terminals walkable.

Not Verified | This is a very old dirty airport that’s in dire need of a complete refurbishment. It’s grubby with paint and ceilings black with grime. The air conditioning doesn’t work properly. It’s hot inside and uncomfortable. It’s a national embarrassment and not up to standard. When the footpath is covered in cracked on grime. It’s more like a railway station than an airport.

✅ Trip Verified | Embarrassed by my home airport. T3 (Virgin) has been merged with T4 meaning longer walk to check-in and gates. New security screening is ok, with more space but also because of the merger, more people trying to get through. The new system significantly slower than traditional screening because passengers and their hand carry items come through in different order, meaning huge confusion and delays trying to join the items with their owners. Once through security, the walk to gates is much longer than previous due to rerouting via T4 food hall. The gate lounges are still decrepit, an embarrassment in a 1st world major city. Unfortunately this embarrassment is a monopoly so no choice but to use it.

Not Verified | Aside from the disgusting price of parking, this airport has a dreadful baggage handler shortage/incompetence problem. I flew in from Germany after 3 years and had to wait 2.5 hours for one bag to come off the plane. It utterly destroyed any chance of a happy, emotional reunion. Here I am again 2 weeks later to pick up my girlfriend, who's also flown in from Germany, and I'm sitting here writing this because it's already taken over an 75 minutes for any sign of the bags (and counting). I won't accept any more COVID-related excuses, and neither should anyone else. This airport is failing people miserably because they can't or refuse to fix glaring issues. All the while people are paying exorbitant prices for parking, and overstaying pre-booked rates, because there is still no rail connection (and probably never will be). This airport is a despicable embarrassment and those running it should all be sacked and an external review needs to be done.

Not Verified | Inadequacy of Flight Assistance. Travelling from the UK with an 87 year old mother who is profoundly deaf. I had requested Flight Assist at each stopover and at the end of our trip. Dubai and Singapore both provided a wheelchair and a person to push it so that I could carry both my own and my mother's cabin baggage. At Melbourne I was met with a wheelchair which I had to push on my own while carrying the cabin baggage . There was absolutely no assistance whatsoever. This was a very stressful situation for both myself and my elderly mother. I think it is a poor reflection on Australia that an international airport like Melbourne should be so inadequate in respect of travellers who may need more help.