Melbourne Airport

One of the most annoying things about this airport is the very high cost of short term parking which is $45 a day. This is more than a car park in central Melbourne. There is an undercover "Long-term" car park which is quite misleading. This car park charges the same as the short term car park which it shares the building with. I have no idea what the discount applying is and at $90 overnight it is expensive. I agree with the comments about baggage and customs delays but there again this is an island nation and we think every one wants to come here. The domestic terminals are quite decent but then there is no immigration or much baggage there.

While I understand the arguments an airline operator might make about the need to make a return on its lease Melbourne Airport's continued refusal to install free Internet terminals (emulating Singapore) is poor. Singapore may be essentially a government-run airport but Melbourne is boring by comparison and it is about time that passengers were offered a small 'freebie' given the various airport charges that are included in the prices of most tickets. Of course it would be unfair to claim that Melbourne Airport is the only Australian airport to fall behind progressive transport hubs like Changi Airport. While Melbourne Airport's per-passenger processing fees are lower than most other Australian capital city airports it ought to give something back to passengers who contribute a huge daily amount in parking fees and indirectly in airport income by supporting overpriced shops that block one's way once airside in the international terminal as others have observed. There seems to be a lack of drinking water fountains in the Virgin Blue terminal unforgivable in an often warm to hot climate like Melbourne's (in summer and early autumn at least) and another attempt to force us all to purchase bottled water should we forget to bring non- alcoholic drinks from home office or hotel.

The security and immigration was not very long departing Melbourne taking a red eye flight to Singapore. The whole idea of passing the duty free to move to the gate area seems a little pushy to passengers. This leaves a feeling of aggressive selling on the minds of passengers. Once you pass the duty free shops to the gate area there is nothing much to do except just waiting at the gate area.No decent bar/dining area to relax before a flight. Unlike major airports worldwide there is no lounge access even on payment for travellers using non-premium cabins.

Have flown in and out of Tullamarine International four times and every time I've been left wanting. Arriving in Melbourne is a tiring and tedious process with inefficient immigrations and customs procedures. Getting out of the building an hour after touchdown is the best you can hope for especially if you're arriving with another international flight. When leaving Melbourne make sure you grab something to eat before you go airside because there is quite literally nothing once you're through unless you fancy a dodgy sandwich bar with grumpy teenagers behind the counter or an overpriced "wine bar" that would be better suited to downtown Melbourne than an airport where most people just want something well-priced and appetising. I'm not much of a fan of fast food joints but even a Hungry Jacks would be welcome in the departure lounge. Pretty much nothing to do when waiting for your flight so bring a book or time it so you don't have long to wait after clearing security. For Australia's second biggest city Tullamarine is not doing Melbourne any favours and desperately needs more airside.

Customs extremely slow. we were forced to go into foreigners line and wait for 45 minutes - finally got to the overcrowded baggage area. seems Melbourne patronage has outgrown the airports capabilities - waited 30 mins for the luggage to come and then ended up in a queue that stretched up and around and down the baggage carousels and then had to wait nearly 1 hour to get through baggage scanning. The demands on this airport have far exceeded what this airport and its facilities are capable of. The arrivals area is clearly lacking and has clearly been forgotten about in any development to increase its handling capabilities.

Arrived back at international terminal few days ago and got through the whole 'plane to airport bus exercise in a record 40 minutes. The secret - very quiet no other arrival in sight. Generally by far the slowest airport in the world from which to deplane. Baggage carousel a lousy old fashioned design and it takes for ever for the baggage to even get to the carousel. (I think QANTAS does all international baggage). More than one flight per hour and the carousel is crowded with a lot of anxious pax who fight for space to grab their bags. Then the paranoid inspired quarantine queue which stretches almost back to the 'plane itself at times. Usually takes 60 minutes or more to get out of the place. Still what can you expect from a glorified mini shopping mall aka as Tullamarine airport?

The international baggage hall is a dark and gloomy place to wait 65 minutes for luggage to come off the lane - but that's my most recent experience there. The waiting time was interspersed with announcements from airlines apologising to passengers for baggage delays - it seems to be a widespread problem. After picking up your bags it's much better to avoid the long quarantine queue where luggage is checked - so don't bring anything in (eg foodstuffs or anything made of wood) that would cause you to be placed into that line. In my case it took me more than two hours from disembarkation to catching a taxi - not good enough.

Departed from Melbourne using Qantas to Mumbai via Sydney. What's surprising is that one needs to pay for trolleys at both the departure and the arrival. Wonder whether passengers arriving first time or even Australians need to be reminded to carry 2 x $2 coins both for out and incoming flight fso they can pay for trolleys. I have a 4 month old infant and had to walk all the way up to the taxi rank on the other side to get a trolley some passenger had left behind before jumping into a cab.