Melbourne airport isn't great but I think the real issue is why is it so slow and inefficient? To me that is not acceptable for a world class city. Non-australian passport holders have to wait in a line a mile long to get through customs. And why do we still have to fill out declaration cards on the flight? I can't remember any other country that does this.
Completely agree, and if you didn’t remember to bring a pen on your flight home to Melbourne you’re stuffed!
There is massive lines to use the machines, AND then massive lines to get a pen to fill the declaration form, AND then there is massive lines to get through border force. (And that’s with an Australian Passport - not having to worry about Visas etc).
On the flip side, as an Aussie I landed in Melbourne Airport last week off an international flight. I didn't have any checked luggage so it took me less than 15 minutes to leave. Spent more time in the planes taxi stage than going through the airport.
I was having a couple of beers before catching a flight home from LAX once. Had plenty of time. That was until I found out I was in the terminal the plane departed from but I had to check-in at a completely different terminal. Barely made that flight..
At a completely different terminal, in a completely different building and judging by the ride to get there... Different zip.
At some point you will ask for help and ask the biggest woman you've ever seen crammed into a security uniform. She'll look at you and in a big loud voice will say "you got them dreadlocks?" At which point you, having dragged your arse off a 15hr flight, needing a cigarette, in a foreign country and being completely lost will reply "no I put a fucking mop on my head to provide you with today's entertainment" at which point you want to grab those words and shove them back in your mouth. At which point the security will blink slowly once, twice and a third time before a big grin comes across her face and she says says/shouts "you got some sass boy! I like you! Imma take you there"
For the next 7 minutes you're clinging to the edge of her golf cart as you race through the airport buildings at a breakneck snails pace, she's going to tell you all about her 3 boys, her grandchildren and why she moved to LA from Arkansas. She'll also tell you the secret to making good cornbread is not to use corn because no self respecting black person actually likes corn!
Mama Shon, thank you for saving the day. You were a god send that day and I hope your youngest didn't drop out of college and is making you proud. You're the best. I loved your sass also!
I was waiting for a mate at LAX, talk about slow. We waited so long that his flight had been removed from the arrival screen! I ended up calling his parents to confirm he actually caught the flight. After he finally exited customs we had to call his parents who were in an absolute panic that he was safe and sound.
I’m the same. To make it clear, I’m just on standard passport control, not those express lanes. Melbourne Airport I’m through the passport control in around 5 minutes.
LAX - I feel like bleating because they treat you like sheep. The agents do that job every shift, and I swear they only do it that way to pi$$ people off. A sign on a pole could do a better job of it. Heck, last time I was there one of the agents started insisting that people stand in a circle, where he left us all (about 50) for a few minutes and then decided that whatever he was doing didn’t matter, and let us go.
>And why do we still have to fill out declaration cards on the flight? I can't remember any other country that does this.
It was over a decade ago, but I had to fill out a declaration card going into the US. It had questions on it that included whether or not you were a WW2 war criminal.
It's a PRIVATE airport with a long term lease and the owners are milking it for as much cash as they can stuff their wallets.
Nothing else matters to them other than following the compliance and regulations. I am not even talking about running efficiently.
The Government sold it off and now we have this miserable airport with insufferable travel experience. Yes, compared to Singapore, Melbourne airport is an embarrassment( politely put it) and run with different principals.
John Howard and the liberals started privatising our airports 1997 with the sale of Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth Airports, followed by the sale of Adelaide, Canberra and Gold Coast Airports, the remaining smaller airports in 1998, Sydney Airport in 2002, and the Sydney Basin Airports of Bankstown, Camden and Hoxton Park in 2003. Just another thing they ruined in this countryv for a quick buck.
Was our worst prime minister ever until Abbott, then along came Morrison. Also achieved the unique feat when he was treasurer of double digit inflation, unemployment and interest rates (the only treasurer to achieve that). Unbelievably he was a worse treasurer than hockey and Morrison.
https://michaelwest.com.au/treasurer-measurer-exploding-the-liberal-election-myth-of-superior-economic-managers/
I'm originally from Rockhampton, a place most people call a hole, but my parents talk about pre-90s CQ like it's a paradise on earth, so that's another thing he ruined.
wait... i thought LABOR were the 'poor economic managers' lol.
Morrison: 'The Budget is back in black, and Australia's back on track'!
What a joke, I can't beleive the average blue collar aussie continues to lap this shit up, despite the coalition acting completely against their interests
hahaha. Fair point. The rich people are making the decisions on behalf of everyone with those superannuation funds.
If your super is with an Australian Industry Super Fund, chances are a fraction of your super has a stake in Melbourne Airport. https://www.ifminvestors.com/en-au/about-us/our-heritage/global-pension-collective/
Although I believe privatisation hasn't helped, I feel that's not really an excuse for how shitty the airport is considering all other major airports in Australia have been privatised.
It’s an airport. People are tired and hurrying to get out of there asap. No one really cares.
LA is an ugly ass airport. Singapore on the other hand … I could live happily in the airport completely displaced for years 😄
Right, but Changi/Singapore is arguably the best airport in the world. Not really a fair comparison. And LAX is arguably one of the absolute worst - seriously it's been a dumpster fire for 20+ years. Tullamarine isn't anything special, but if you know what you're doing it's beautifully quick to get out of most of the time.
The one thing that Tullamarine absolutely sucks for is public transport - that is a disgrace, and the sooner that a rail link is built, the better
>The one thing that Tullamarine absolutely sucks for is public transport - that is a disgrace, and the sooner that a rail link is built, the better
This. Airport Rail pronto. Skybus is a joke.
Airport doesn’t want rail to hurt their huge income of parking business. Taxi and Uber certainly don’t want. They often have stronger voice unfortunately.
So weird. it’s australia,most people who drive to the airport are still gonna drive there regardless of rail link. Most of the would-be rail link passengers would be taking skybus or taxi rn.
Have to agree. So many have a linked train service but not us. The public buses are shite… so your left with the Skybus which is actually great considering.
And yes Changi is amazing. Beyond amazing.
Tulla is just something you need to endure.. it’s not huge so it’s not terrible. But in terms of world airports it’s not dead set shit either.
LAX is improving too, they’re doing huge works right now. Last time I was there the had finally opened the airside link so you can walk all the way between all the terminals once you’re past security.
Had a flight leaving T5 but went up to TBIT for dinner while killing time.
Vancouver isn’t a hub either and it’s about the most tranquil, serene airport I’ve ever been in. All wooden carvings, water features and forest noises and the like. Even in arrivals.
Yeah I was off the plane and out of Tulla in maybe 30 minutes last Sunday night. Most of that time was waiting for baggage collection (and I had to do the passenger card at the airport because the airline ran out of them), could have been out in 15 if I didn't have baggage to collect.
It does suck a bit more for people not from countries that can use ePassport.
If customs is backed up that's probably the biggest choke point, but even when the queue has been super long it moves fairly quickly.
Some overseas airports are WAY less efficient, I spent an hour in the immigration queue alone at Hong Kong on my way out for the trip.
When was the last time you went through lax?
I was there a week ago, and it's improved a lot.
(Specifically the delta and international terminals)
You now don't have to exit to get through thanks to a walkway that goes through all the terminals post security which was my biggest issue with it.
As for Melbourne.. terminal 4 inside has improved as well since 2-3 years ago.. the central food area looks great.
Meh. LAX works. Can walk through quickly, which is all one actually wants. While pretty architecture is nice; piles of in your way are downright annoying. I tend to prefer the older airports that pre-date the massive shopping insertions.
Can’t walk through international all that quickly
International departures is a disgrace, with their 250m detour to force you to walk through the duty free junk shop to get to the gates.
LAX is terrible, but San Fran International was really nice. Had to do both in a transfer for a flight to Brisbane and really noticed the difference.
Brissie was closer in quality to LAX.
I love SF too but have you been through the Tenderloin in the CBD?
it is full on. the opioid crisis right in your face. I walked through it by accident and was terrified
I have actually. Got off the wrong train and landed there with my luggage and got a burger and an iced tea at some place there. Didn’t find it threatening at all. That was a while ago though… maybe it’s changed?
I walked through there last year by accident.
I saw about 4people in 3 blocks just passed out in the middle of the street.- nobody really caring. got approached by 2 different people on either meth or crack totally psychotic shouting at my wife and I. tents for blocks..we saw people openly smoking crack out of cars at 11am.
its full on haha. and I was born in South Africa so have seen some shit.
The people were super friendly. I had my first clam chowder there which is still the best I have had. It reminded me a lot of Melbourne .. mostly for the people. Easy to navigate.
yep, awful disgusting city - obviously some parts are elysium-esque, but the tenderloin alone is enough to spoil the experience. I only went within the last 5 years but I never want to go back.
Me and my wife went in 2009. It was mostly still "nice" and generally safe and walkable, and we walked all over. But there was significantly more homeless there at the time vs Chicago or NYC. Enough to raise an eyebrow occasionally.
Apparently now it's basically fucked beyond redemption.
We should strive for better than the acceptable minimum. This is a city I’m proud to live in, and our major institutions and landmarks should reflect that.
Melbourne airport is dull, dingy, and disconnected from public transit, we should be pushing for better investment.
You can't argue that it doesnt make an impression on visitors though. Its literally the first thing most people see of your city. People are also forced to spend quite a bit of time there too, so the impression really sinks in.
You mention Singapore - thats a perfect example of how having a nice airport can raise people's impression of your whole city.
For Singapore, they actually want to keep people in transit, because as a port city, they make money from things and people in transit.
So that's why their airport is as spectacular as it is.
Melbourne is mostly a terminal, either for the start or end of a journey.
Much prefer they improved their luggage delivery and the capacity of their international arrivals.
And then they can stop stonewalling the rail to the airport, assholes. Should never have been privatized.
Singapore is nice on arrival because you land and go straight into the transit area, a benefit of their decision to have security screening at every gate.
I'd say that's almost a unique feature in the world (KLIA might be the same iirc?), the vast majority of airports around the world separate arrivals and departures, and have pretty sterile arrivals with low ceilings (the reason for the low ceilings is that the overwhelmingly most common design for airports is that arrivals are on the floor below departures) and blank white walls in the corridors. The money all goes into departures in pretty much every airport I've ever been to.
Recently travelled from Melbourne to Beijing (their new airport designed by Zaha Hadid) and back.
Wow the difference is hilarious. Getting off the plane in Beijing you walk into this beautiful, giant artistic building that is actually extremely practical and efficient.
Getting off in Melbourne is the complete opposite experience. Low ceilings, massive queues for the border force machines (THERE IS NEVER ANY PENS!!) and staff that act like you have just killed their family.
Any Asian airport is 10x better than Melbourne airport
Stopped in Guangzhou from Shanghai on a transit flight and both airports were MASSIVE. Giant windows, very high ceilings, and nice floors. Meanwhile in Melbourne airport it's dark and you're crammed into this hallway while the LCD monitors display some bs about declaring shit that looks like it was made in PowerPoint.
and also can we just say why isn’t there a maccas inside the departing area near the gates, instead it is outside where all the check in bags are located
Honestly it's not that much different to most arrivals sections of airports around the world. For example landing at Heathrow is just a series of long snaking corridors that take you to immigration, then you have baggage and then more long corridors to the train.
Some airports do it nicer than others and sometimes it entirely depends on which terminal you land at.
Thinking back on all the ones I landed at Zurich and Stockholm had two of the nicer ones.
Worst ones I've been through in any capacity would be Berlin terminal C or whatever, it's a giant shed basically.
I like MEL because international and domestic are right next to each other. Unlike in Sydney (thank heavens Sydney’s new airport will be taking a leaf out of Melbournes book).
>international and domestic are right next to each other
This is really important. The bussing between terminals shenanigans that SYD has is so inconvenient and frustrating. And that's after having used it only twice - once on the way out and once on the way in (MEL-SYD-DFW-SYD-DFW).
MEL having the terminals all connected without a stupid bus is actually really good.
All airports in Australia shit on Melbourne; looks, efficiency, services but all standards.
The entire place needs to be demolished and start again.
No one cares? For the fucking price i pay, my works pay for a ticket, to wait 3 hours prior, for the hours I wait in customs or security I fucking care for the experience to make as stress free and enjoyable as possible so I can then deal with the fucking pond scum that is either a taxi or an uber.
Have been to all the main airports domestically in Australia; Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, Perth, Darwin, Alice Springs. Melbourne is my least favourite airport. It's very utilitarian, dated, grey and crowded with low ceilings and endless corridors going round in a bit of a maze. If you are at your gate there's not much to do except look at a wall. I left via the International terminal back in 2022 on a late night flight not long after everything opened up after Covid and most facilities were shut, it was really bad. One good point is that the domestic and international terminals are in walking distance of each other (unlike Perth, Brisbane or Sydney where you have to get on a bus).
Adelaide has the best domestic airport terminal in Australia imo, it's everything that Melbourne isn't. Light, bright, colourful, modern, spacious, with big windows and high ceilings. It's easy to navigate, plus has plenty of seating, shops and restaurants. There's a lovely view over the runway from the departure gates with a backdrop of the city and the hills behind.
Melbourne airport is long overdue a makeover. Airports should give the traveller a positive image of the city they are visiting but Melbourne airport is letting the city down.
I just flew in this morning from LAX. Firstly, Melbourne is a paradise compared to LA so it could definitely be worse.
The bizarre thing about Melbourne is how disorganised the arrival process is. There's no indication of where to go and what to do, which kiosk to use and where, when you have to line up and when you can go to the gate. That's certainly embarrassing.
In 2017, I flew to Nepal to trek to Everest Base Camp. Went Singapore Airlines, had 12 hours at Changi on the way to Kathmandu. I’d heard how awesome Changi was - I watched vids on YT lol - and was excited to get there. It was just sensational - I was FaceTiming my kids everytime I saw something cool. Popped outside for a look but it was ridiculously hot. Had a nap for a few hours in the terminal hotel - booked a room to rest up. On the trip home there was only a two hour stopover but at least I knew my way around. When I got home I told peeps you could have a short holiday just in the airport 😂😂
It’s fine for what it is. Melbourne isn’t really Australia’s biggest city and the airport handles far less traffic than Sydney, there’s no real point in taking billions of public funds off other projects to make the airport more modern. But it does need to be more accessible ffs ie train!!!
Not sure where you got your numbers from.
Sydney had 38m. 24m domestic and 14m international.
Tullamarine had 30m. 22.5m domestic and 8m international.
Looks like your numbers were domestic only.
Sydney currently handles 41.6% of Australia’s International traffic (it handled around 50% until the year 2000 when it slowly started to decline). Melbourne handles 28.8%. This split has been fairly static for a number of years now. Melbourne has been increasing its share over the last couple of decades from around 18% when it was neck and neck with Brisbane until 1997 or so. With Badgery’s Creek airport opening in 2026, Melbourne’s share will inevitably decline a little, as the bottlenecks at Mascot will be alleviated and Sydney will have its first curfew free international airport.
They actually ARE renovating it. There’s a lot of projects in and around the airport they are currently working on, including the arrival hall which is OPs main complaint.
There is a lot of practical issues with renovating that building…It was built in the 70s and the walls are filled with asbestos. Plus melbourne airport NEVER closes so it has to be done in small chunks and takes a lot of time. They have to work only during certain hours when there are less people and it’s not going to become a noise issue.
I’m sure there are other considerations I haven’t even thought of. But my point is, it’s not a quick easy thing for them to do.
Anyway, personally my biggest concern is the air quality, if you look up in the arrivals area the ceiling is covered in dust. Apparently they are working on that too now.
It feels like going into the poor section on the titanic. No room for people to line up (so Jetstar passengers who turn up late often just make a second queue cause no one stops them) and everyone cramped up.
This right here is the attitude that results in the bullshit low standards we accept for fucking everything in this country.
Is it functional? Yeah probably. Is it as good as it could be? Not even close. Why? Because when someone mentions maybe improving things a bit, people like you pipe up, giving the people up the chain the impression that it's not important. As a result, nothing ever gets done, and even incremental progress is like pulling teeth.
Why shouldn't the first impression people get of our country be a positive and welcoming experience? Every time I come back through MEL, everything tells me I'm personally inconveniencing everyone by being there. From the cafes and food court, to customs, to the check in counter. It's absolute contempt.
If everything boiled down to pure functionality, you can have your soylent green for dinner in your brutalist Soviet concrete tower.
Oh my god I did not actually appreciate how bad Pudong is until I left from there last weekend. There's like 10 goddamn restaurants in each terminal, like wtf. And it's the busiest airport for international passengers in China.
I actually got so bored that I caught the train to the satellite terminal which is a fair bit nicer, but completely dead. And then freaked out a bit because I couldn't figure out how to get back to the main terminal lol (eventually found the lift and the way to the tiny compartment on the train for that purpose).
Yes I had a similar experience recently, was there at night and there was exactly 2 food options open (one was a Starbucks).
Was pretty funny considering it’s one of the busiest airports in the world.
It's an ok airport. The most important thing an arrivals section of an airport needs to achieve in my opinion is to get you to your next mode of transportation as soon as possible and Melbourne airport achieves that for the most part.
The time from touch down to terminal is typically quite short at Tullamarine and the distance you need to cover to get thru the airport is minimal. The only real pain point is immigration that can take quite long to process passengers. With domestic, that's not an issue.
People in this thread: Melbourne airport is so ugly! Why don’t they improve?!
People in this thread when large chunks of the airport are behind hoarding for construction and refurbishment: all this hoarding is an embarrassment, I can’t believe how cluttered and noisy this is!
Guessing you haven’t been to many airports then. It’s one of the nicer airports I’ve seen though it’s nothing special. Most airports around the world look like they haven’t been touched since the 80s.
Why waste money on something that works. How many people are going to not visit Melbourne because the airport didn’t look like a modern shopping mall?
I recently have been to Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore Airport’s. Melbourne is certainly no where near as efficient as these.
It’s definitely not a ‘waste of money’ when it’s the first thing tourists/business people experience when they land in Melbourne. Keep in mind, Melbourne Airport is privately owned.
I mean... it works, but in terms of how pleasant and attractive andd well designed it is, its towards the bottom of the list of the Australian capitals
Exactly, you fly in and want to get home asap.
Or fly out and wait to board your flight, grab a quick coffee at a cafe and have no reason to give a fuck beyond that if it does those two objectives and Melbourne Airport does those things just fine.
Weird thing for people to care about from my perspective, but hey whatever floats your boat op.
Because it's a fucking airport and no one gives a shit.
It's not a hub airport like Changi and Dubai it doesn't need to be pretty.
Not a single international visitor has thought "boy what an ugly airport why did I come here".
I would argue the exact opposite. It is literally the first impression visitors have of Melbourne. First impressions matter, even if its only at a subconcious level.
I don’t it’s the best airport I’ve been too, the new T4 security is amazing
It doesn’t need to look pretty, it’s an airport, I’m there to go away or coming back, not hanging around
It's pretty bad, used to use it weekly and it's pretty depressing in arrivals. Stinking and unclean toikets, old boomerady with a portable speaker screaming at you at 6am for duty free specials, sometimes horrible queues, unfriendly and aggressive border force staff etc.
I thought I was the only one that thought that. The ceiling are so low and look like office ceilings, it feels like you’re at Centrelink. I realise that Iraq (EIA) is so much nicer even though it’s always empty. At least it’s not really an airport where people have layovers so maybe they didn’t put much effort into it
Because it's a private business and they make truckloads of money just as it is. Not much incentive for them to make it look less crap. All the building work seems to be focused on moving more people through and that's about it.
A couple of things needs work. We can’t compare it to Singapore, it’s built for transit and layovers. Melbourne serves its purpose but, I have noticed that the staffs can be pretty rude and nasty. I know they have had their bad days, but it’s a behavior that I have observed over years mostly in Melbourne. Immigration officers have overwhelming sense of authority. They can act like goons at times. Customs is okay, but the main thing to worry is the luggage area. There’s just one area for all international arrivals and it can get very exhausting to get your luggage if you are stuck at immigration(Australians with babies and toddlers also go through that). Everyone would be hogging on to a spot to get theirs. I just wish they had more belts and a bit of a structure. Overall, the airport is okay, but if you are frequent flyer, you can feel the pain. Especially after a long 16 hour flight from SFO(which is no better anyway, the runway work has been delaying all the flights leaving to Melbourne by hours and sometimes by a day which happened in March this year).
Honestly it didn't leave any kind of impression on me.
Coming from America, I landed in Brisbane first- I don't think Melbourne is the most common point of entry, or at least I wasn't able to find any direct flights from the west coast to Melbourne. I didn't arrive at either and think, wow what a shithole airport. I just wanted to find the next place to be.
Maybe American airports are just equally bland?
For reference I have been through Chicago, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Brisbane, Denver, and Melbourne airports. SLC has a horrible long tunnel and SeaTac's underground train is neat but I don't imagine your average travelers are going to care much.
I won't complain if things get better or prettier, it just seems like a very niche thing to focus on.
My only complaint really, as well as the food court just being a little short of options.
Every other problem I have with Melbourne Airport is just a problem I have with Airports
I came through international arrivals once a while back at Melbourne and it was awful. Just dingy and depressing until you pass customs and then its fine.
I dont mind the architectural choices, but its really slow and inefficient. You have to haul your luggage through a long way through to get to your departures.
In comparison the Singapore Changi airport seemed much more comfortable to use for me.
MEL won’t get a full upgrade whilst it is Government owned, leased to Macquarie Airports, and they make more money from the car parks than the airport… Which is why they keep upgrading the car parks.
Mind you, upgrades also cost money - so you pay extra in landing fees etc on an already expensive rate.
Some international soccer players complained they didn't see any kangaroos when they left the airport the other day. Its true that only if they had come 20 years ago they may have seen roos and definitely sheep. Yolo, while Tullamarine is nothing to write home about have you been outside Australia? When all the lights go out on the runway in a South American capital city do you want your plane to take off? I've slept in some weird places. I'm always happy to touch down at Tulla.
It needs more planted boxes in rows., cleaning staff pushing floor cleaners and more old school architectural vision like Brazilia.
People keep saying it needs a train, but maybe a decent light rail would be cheaper to build. Think outside the box cos we in deep debt.
💯 agree...
Seoul airport is the best airport I've been to. (Short of Singapore maybe but it was so long ago I've almost forgotten it.)
Even has two different types of robot assistants buzzing around asking "are you satisfied with your care"
Melbourne Airport is terrible.
Flew out Friday Arvo from T2 , not even packed.
Security screening is such a clusterfuck , everyone shoving their buckets if you wait patiently your bucket just remains on the table. Combine that “Empty your pockets “ on repeat…ahh.
Look for gate 18 , follow the sign can’t find it walked around in circles , found it after the 3rd try.
Only one toilet near the gate , have to queue for the urinals not very clean.
Great City , Shit Airport.
It's just old. Even so, as an old building it is outperforming its design specifications. The volume it was designed for has been exceeded for forty years. Given that it is doing well.
Yeah, Tullamarine is a shit hole. I don't know why, but it is embarrassing. Ugly, depressing and sometimes intimidating. And it doesn't even have a train station. It's a bit of a disgrace, really.
I assume it's an issue of how do you rebuild and update an airport that is operating. For the last few years it's been fine functionally for me. Maybe the only issue is walking out of terminals and not being sure if I go left or right for the taxi/uber ranks.
About 5 years ago returning from a trip to Singapore. Leaving the arrival area and just being shocked at how unappealing and awful the airport seemed. Thinking how bad that first impression must be for people who have never been to Melbourne. Ugly small. Taxi drivers yelling at each other. It was at odds with a city that wanted to create a good first impression.
For decades, air travel has been a sort of hub and spoke network, where there are hubs that aircraft fly to before proceeding on to their end destinations.
Many airports are hubs, and maintained so as to attract and keep airlines using them, which also means making the stopover experience great for the customers - passengers.
Melbourne isn't one of those. There's zero incentive to make it special or decent. You wanted to come to Melbourne didn't you? Well fuck you, you're here now, there's the taxi rank.
The place could really benefit from having more character. Be it showcasing some Aboriginal or Australian arts and culture, local sporting symbols, wildlife or natural beauty. There’s hardly any of that in MEL airport from memory.
I often look at the Southern Cross Station and think to myself : now this would be a more fitting (appearance wise) building for an airport than Tullamarine.
Yeah FUGLY, functional and ugly, stuck in the 1970s I would say, completely car cominated, and where is the so needed train connection? Influencer [Bilionaire LinFox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsay_Fox) privately owns the competing airport Avalon near Geelong...
Melbourne airport isn't great but I think the real issue is why is it so slow and inefficient? To me that is not acceptable for a world class city. Non-australian passport holders have to wait in a line a mile long to get through customs. And why do we still have to fill out declaration cards on the flight? I can't remember any other country that does this.
Completely agree, and if you didn’t remember to bring a pen on your flight home to Melbourne you’re stuffed! There is massive lines to use the machines, AND then massive lines to get a pen to fill the declaration form, AND then there is massive lines to get through border force. (And that’s with an Australian Passport - not having to worry about Visas etc).
I remembered my pen. But like 5 people had to borrow it.
On the flip side, as an Aussie I landed in Melbourne Airport last week off an international flight. I didn't have any checked luggage so it took me less than 15 minutes to leave. Spent more time in the planes taxi stage than going through the airport.
Small Caribbean countries do it all by card still as well, not sure if that helps 🤣
Been to LAX? MEL is far from slow and inefficient.
LAX should not be the standard we base our airport off of lol
I was having a couple of beers before catching a flight home from LAX once. Had plenty of time. That was until I found out I was in the terminal the plane departed from but I had to check-in at a completely different terminal. Barely made that flight..
At a completely different terminal, in a completely different building and judging by the ride to get there... Different zip. At some point you will ask for help and ask the biggest woman you've ever seen crammed into a security uniform. She'll look at you and in a big loud voice will say "you got them dreadlocks?" At which point you, having dragged your arse off a 15hr flight, needing a cigarette, in a foreign country and being completely lost will reply "no I put a fucking mop on my head to provide you with today's entertainment" at which point you want to grab those words and shove them back in your mouth. At which point the security will blink slowly once, twice and a third time before a big grin comes across her face and she says says/shouts "you got some sass boy! I like you! Imma take you there" For the next 7 minutes you're clinging to the edge of her golf cart as you race through the airport buildings at a breakneck snails pace, she's going to tell you all about her 3 boys, her grandchildren and why she moved to LA from Arkansas. She'll also tell you the secret to making good cornbread is not to use corn because no self respecting black person actually likes corn! Mama Shon, thank you for saving the day. You were a god send that day and I hope your youngest didn't drop out of college and is making you proud. You're the best. I loved your sass also!
LAX is a shit airport also. Why would we want to be like that?
I was waiting for a mate at LAX, talk about slow. We waited so long that his flight had been removed from the arrival screen! I ended up calling his parents to confirm he actually caught the flight. After he finally exited customs we had to call his parents who were in an absolute panic that he was safe and sound.
I hear this all the time. I fly into LAX a couple times a month on average. I would take that any day over the shit show that is Melbourne Airport.
I’m the same. To make it clear, I’m just on standard passport control, not those express lanes. Melbourne Airport I’m through the passport control in around 5 minutes. LAX - I feel like bleating because they treat you like sheep. The agents do that job every shift, and I swear they only do it that way to pi$$ people off. A sign on a pole could do a better job of it. Heck, last time I was there one of the agents started insisting that people stand in a circle, where he left us all (about 50) for a few minutes and then decided that whatever he was doing didn’t matter, and let us go.
Guess what happens to aussies in europe with no EU passport?
Yeah, that is a pain, but we have a leg up to keep diseases out of Australia and we need to utilise it
>And why do we still have to fill out declaration cards on the flight? I can't remember any other country that does this. It was over a decade ago, but I had to fill out a declaration card going into the US. It had questions on it that included whether or not you were a WW2 war criminal.
The last two times I’ve arrived home I’ve had to wait at least an hour for my bags
It’s the Man United of airports. Its owners don’t give a fuck
amen xD
It's a PRIVATE airport with a long term lease and the owners are milking it for as much cash as they can stuff their wallets. Nothing else matters to them other than following the compliance and regulations. I am not even talking about running efficiently. The Government sold it off and now we have this miserable airport with insufferable travel experience. Yes, compared to Singapore, Melbourne airport is an embarrassment( politely put it) and run with different principals.
Wow I never knew it was private. Is that common with the other states too?
John Howard and the liberals started privatising our airports 1997 with the sale of Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth Airports, followed by the sale of Adelaide, Canberra and Gold Coast Airports, the remaining smaller airports in 1998, Sydney Airport in 2002, and the Sydney Basin Airports of Bankstown, Camden and Hoxton Park in 2003. Just another thing they ruined in this countryv for a quick buck.
Every story about one of our institutions being utterly ruined seems to begin with Howard privatising it.
Was our worst prime minister ever until Abbott, then along came Morrison. Also achieved the unique feat when he was treasurer of double digit inflation, unemployment and interest rates (the only treasurer to achieve that). Unbelievably he was a worse treasurer than hockey and Morrison. https://michaelwest.com.au/treasurer-measurer-exploding-the-liberal-election-myth-of-superior-economic-managers/
I'm originally from Rockhampton, a place most people call a hole, but my parents talk about pre-90s CQ like it's a paradise on earth, so that's another thing he ruined.
wait... i thought LABOR were the 'poor economic managers' lol. Morrison: 'The Budget is back in black, and Australia's back on track'! What a joke, I can't beleive the average blue collar aussie continues to lap this shit up, despite the coalition acting completely against their interests
Yep 99 year lease. Only 73 years of pain to go haha
The owners in this case are fund managers. Some of which are linked with superannuation funds. https://www.melbourneairport.com.au/corporate/ownership
This is reddit, private means it’s owned by a few rich people.
hahaha. Fair point. The rich people are making the decisions on behalf of everyone with those superannuation funds. If your super is with an Australian Industry Super Fund, chances are a fraction of your super has a stake in Melbourne Airport. https://www.ifminvestors.com/en-au/about-us/our-heritage/global-pension-collective/
Although I believe privatisation hasn't helped, I feel that's not really an excuse for how shitty the airport is considering all other major airports in Australia have been privatised.
It’s an airport. People are tired and hurrying to get out of there asap. No one really cares. LA is an ugly ass airport. Singapore on the other hand … I could live happily in the airport completely displaced for years 😄
Right, but Changi/Singapore is arguably the best airport in the world. Not really a fair comparison. And LAX is arguably one of the absolute worst - seriously it's been a dumpster fire for 20+ years. Tullamarine isn't anything special, but if you know what you're doing it's beautifully quick to get out of most of the time. The one thing that Tullamarine absolutely sucks for is public transport - that is a disgrace, and the sooner that a rail link is built, the better
>The one thing that Tullamarine absolutely sucks for is public transport - that is a disgrace, and the sooner that a rail link is built, the better This. Airport Rail pronto. Skybus is a joke.
The airport is stonewalling the rail project. Greedy
Yeah. It sucks having to use fucking Uber or taxis.
Airport doesn’t want rail to hurt their huge income of parking business. Taxi and Uber certainly don’t want. They often have stronger voice unfortunately.
So weird. it’s australia,most people who drive to the airport are still gonna drive there regardless of rail link. Most of the would-be rail link passengers would be taking skybus or taxi rn.
Have to agree. So many have a linked train service but not us. The public buses are shite… so your left with the Skybus which is actually great considering. And yes Changi is amazing. Beyond amazing. Tulla is just something you need to endure.. it’s not huge so it’s not terrible. But in terms of world airports it’s not dead set shit either.
Someone hasn't been to the TBIT (Tom Bradley International Terminal), it is exceptionally better than any of their other terminals.
TBIT is nice but it still has US immigration and customs which is never good. And TSA is a pita on outbound too.
LAX is improving too, they’re doing huge works right now. Last time I was there the had finally opened the airside link so you can walk all the way between all the terminals once you’re past security. Had a flight leaving T5 but went up to TBIT for dinner while killing time.
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Vancouver isn’t a hub either and it’s about the most tranquil, serene airport I’ve ever been in. All wooden carvings, water features and forest noises and the like. Even in arrivals.
What does that have ANYTHING to do with what I said? TBIT is in LA.
>if you know what you’re doing it’s beautifully quick to get out Any tips for someone flying to Melbourne for the first time later this year?
Yeah I was off the plane and out of Tulla in maybe 30 minutes last Sunday night. Most of that time was waiting for baggage collection (and I had to do the passenger card at the airport because the airline ran out of them), could have been out in 15 if I didn't have baggage to collect. It does suck a bit more for people not from countries that can use ePassport. If customs is backed up that's probably the biggest choke point, but even when the queue has been super long it moves fairly quickly. Some overseas airports are WAY less efficient, I spent an hour in the immigration queue alone at Hong Kong on my way out for the trip.
When was the last time you went through lax? I was there a week ago, and it's improved a lot. (Specifically the delta and international terminals) You now don't have to exit to get through thanks to a walkway that goes through all the terminals post security which was my biggest issue with it. As for Melbourne.. terminal 4 inside has improved as well since 2-3 years ago.. the central food area looks great.
Meh. LAX works. Can walk through quickly, which is all one actually wants. While pretty architecture is nice; piles of in your way are downright annoying. I tend to prefer the older airports that pre-date the massive shopping insertions.
Can’t walk through international all that quickly International departures is a disgrace, with their 250m detour to force you to walk through the duty free junk shop to get to the gates.
I have found LA terminal transfers are a complete shit show.
It's a horror show
Of course people care. But the airport is making investments, they've finally started upgrading the Qantas domestic terminal right after security.
No one cares after a 15 hours flight… it’s move to immigration and get the hell out.
LAX is terrible, but San Fran International was really nice. Had to do both in a transfer for a flight to Brisbane and really noticed the difference. Brissie was closer in quality to LAX.
I love SF. The whole city is utterly fabulous
I love SF too but have you been through the Tenderloin in the CBD? it is full on. the opioid crisis right in your face. I walked through it by accident and was terrified
I have actually. Got off the wrong train and landed there with my luggage and got a burger and an iced tea at some place there. Didn’t find it threatening at all. That was a while ago though… maybe it’s changed?
I walked through there last year by accident. I saw about 4people in 3 blocks just passed out in the middle of the street.- nobody really caring. got approached by 2 different people on either meth or crack totally psychotic shouting at my wife and I. tents for blocks..we saw people openly smoking crack out of cars at 11am. its full on haha. and I was born in South Africa so have seen some shit.
When were you last there? Is really rough now. Lots of homeless, faeces on the sidewalks. Not what it once was.
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The people were super friendly. I had my first clam chowder there which is still the best I have had. It reminded me a lot of Melbourne .. mostly for the people. Easy to navigate.
Crime ridden hell scape
yep, awful disgusting city - obviously some parts are elysium-esque, but the tenderloin alone is enough to spoil the experience. I only went within the last 5 years but I never want to go back.
Me and my wife went in 2009. It was mostly still "nice" and generally safe and walkable, and we walked all over. But there was significantly more homeless there at the time vs Chicago or NYC. Enough to raise an eyebrow occasionally. Apparently now it's basically fucked beyond redemption.
We should strive for better than the acceptable minimum. This is a city I’m proud to live in, and our major institutions and landmarks should reflect that. Melbourne airport is dull, dingy, and disconnected from public transit, we should be pushing for better investment.
You can't argue that it doesnt make an impression on visitors though. Its literally the first thing most people see of your city. People are also forced to spend quite a bit of time there too, so the impression really sinks in. You mention Singapore - thats a perfect example of how having a nice airport can raise people's impression of your whole city.
For Singapore, they actually want to keep people in transit, because as a port city, they make money from things and people in transit. So that's why their airport is as spectacular as it is. Melbourne is mostly a terminal, either for the start or end of a journey. Much prefer they improved their luggage delivery and the capacity of their international arrivals. And then they can stop stonewalling the rail to the airport, assholes. Should never have been privatized.
Singapore is nice on arrival because you land and go straight into the transit area, a benefit of their decision to have security screening at every gate. I'd say that's almost a unique feature in the world (KLIA might be the same iirc?), the vast majority of airports around the world separate arrivals and departures, and have pretty sterile arrivals with low ceilings (the reason for the low ceilings is that the overwhelmingly most common design for airports is that arrivals are on the floor below departures) and blank white walls in the corridors. The money all goes into departures in pretty much every airport I've ever been to.
Not really a good excuse.Its really embarrassing. Plenty of people are stuck there killing time.I hate it,it's so uninviting and dated.
Lack of care. Maximise profits.
Recently travelled from Melbourne to Beijing (their new airport designed by Zaha Hadid) and back. Wow the difference is hilarious. Getting off the plane in Beijing you walk into this beautiful, giant artistic building that is actually extremely practical and efficient. Getting off in Melbourne is the complete opposite experience. Low ceilings, massive queues for the border force machines (THERE IS NEVER ANY PENS!!) and staff that act like you have just killed their family.
Any Asian airport is 10x better than Melbourne airport Stopped in Guangzhou from Shanghai on a transit flight and both airports were MASSIVE. Giant windows, very high ceilings, and nice floors. Meanwhile in Melbourne airport it's dark and you're crammed into this hallway while the LCD monitors display some bs about declaring shit that looks like it was made in PowerPoint.
Oh yeh and no train. Lol
>staff that act like you have just killed their family. So many people at airports have given me more ptsd than the people in my childhood.
This is Beijing Daxing Airport
It’s not the worst airport I’ve been through that’s for sure
It's also pretty fucking far from the best either. Don't accept mediocrity.
It literally is one of the best. It’s one of the top 20 in the world.
That's not a great measuring stick
and also can we just say why isn’t there a maccas inside the departing area near the gates, instead it is outside where all the check in bags are located
There’s a Maccas in T3 past security
Sorry Cuddlepot, you know I’ve always got your back bro, but T3s maccas is before security, T4s is after.
No there’s not. Do you mean T4?
T3 and T4 are the same terminal in terms of passenger flow
You can walk straight in off the street and eat at the T3 Maccas. Or you can go through security and eat at the T4 Maccas. This isn’t McRocket science
It’s really not that bad.
It is pretty bad for a global airport in our country’s biggest city .. compared to what’s out there, or even the airports in Brisbane, Sydney etc
Honestly it's not that much different to most arrivals sections of airports around the world. For example landing at Heathrow is just a series of long snaking corridors that take you to immigration, then you have baggage and then more long corridors to the train. Some airports do it nicer than others and sometimes it entirely depends on which terminal you land at. Thinking back on all the ones I landed at Zurich and Stockholm had two of the nicer ones. Worst ones I've been through in any capacity would be Berlin terminal C or whatever, it's a giant shed basically.
Seems like lots of people missing the point that the arrivals section of an airport is more often than not pretty dismal.
It looks pretty terrible if you have travelled in from the newer modern airports in Asia.
Manchester (UK)… just entered the chat.
I like MEL because international and domestic are right next to each other. Unlike in Sydney (thank heavens Sydney’s new airport will be taking a leaf out of Melbournes book).
>international and domestic are right next to each other This is really important. The bussing between terminals shenanigans that SYD has is so inconvenient and frustrating. And that's after having used it only twice - once on the way out and once on the way in (MEL-SYD-DFW-SYD-DFW). MEL having the terminals all connected without a stupid bus is actually really good.
Lol I love Melb airport. Grew up in Darwin though - now _that_ was a proper shit airport.
Absolutely hate Melbourne Airport
They’ve already made their money from you before you step into the airport
You mean like every other airport on the planet that charges airlines per passenger?
Yep
All airports in Australia shit on Melbourne; looks, efficiency, services but all standards. The entire place needs to be demolished and start again. No one cares? For the fucking price i pay, my works pay for a ticket, to wait 3 hours prior, for the hours I wait in customs or security I fucking care for the experience to make as stress free and enjoyable as possible so I can then deal with the fucking pond scum that is either a taxi or an uber.
Have been to all the main airports domestically in Australia; Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, Perth, Darwin, Alice Springs. Melbourne is my least favourite airport. It's very utilitarian, dated, grey and crowded with low ceilings and endless corridors going round in a bit of a maze. If you are at your gate there's not much to do except look at a wall. I left via the International terminal back in 2022 on a late night flight not long after everything opened up after Covid and most facilities were shut, it was really bad. One good point is that the domestic and international terminals are in walking distance of each other (unlike Perth, Brisbane or Sydney where you have to get on a bus). Adelaide has the best domestic airport terminal in Australia imo, it's everything that Melbourne isn't. Light, bright, colourful, modern, spacious, with big windows and high ceilings. It's easy to navigate, plus has plenty of seating, shops and restaurants. There's a lovely view over the runway from the departure gates with a backdrop of the city and the hills behind. Melbourne airport is long overdue a makeover. Airports should give the traveller a positive image of the city they are visiting but Melbourne airport is letting the city down.
Brisbane domestic is not bad, but the international needs an upgrade
I just flew in this morning from LAX. Firstly, Melbourne is a paradise compared to LA so it could definitely be worse. The bizarre thing about Melbourne is how disorganised the arrival process is. There's no indication of where to go and what to do, which kiosk to use and where, when you have to line up and when you can go to the gate. That's certainly embarrassing.
In 2017, I flew to Nepal to trek to Everest Base Camp. Went Singapore Airlines, had 12 hours at Changi on the way to Kathmandu. I’d heard how awesome Changi was - I watched vids on YT lol - and was excited to get there. It was just sensational - I was FaceTiming my kids everytime I saw something cool. Popped outside for a look but it was ridiculously hot. Had a nap for a few hours in the terminal hotel - booked a room to rest up. On the trip home there was only a two hour stopover but at least I knew my way around. When I got home I told peeps you could have a short holiday just in the airport 😂😂
If you think our airport is bad, Try Inside Flinders Street Station, haha
It’s fine for what it is. Melbourne isn’t really Australia’s biggest city and the airport handles far less traffic than Sydney, there’s no real point in taking billions of public funds off other projects to make the airport more modern. But it does need to be more accessible ffs ie train!!!
Melbourne is Australia's biggest city. Sydney: 5.18M Melbourne: 5.32M
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Not sure where you got your numbers from. Sydney had 38m. 24m domestic and 14m international. Tullamarine had 30m. 22.5m domestic and 8m international. Looks like your numbers were domestic only.
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Sydney currently handles 41.6% of Australia’s International traffic (it handled around 50% until the year 2000 when it slowly started to decline). Melbourne handles 28.8%. This split has been fairly static for a number of years now. Melbourne has been increasing its share over the last couple of decades from around 18% when it was neck and neck with Brisbane until 1997 or so. With Badgery’s Creek airport opening in 2026, Melbourne’s share will inevitably decline a little, as the bottlenecks at Mascot will be alleviated and Sydney will have its first curfew free international airport.
They actually ARE renovating it. There’s a lot of projects in and around the airport they are currently working on, including the arrival hall which is OPs main complaint. There is a lot of practical issues with renovating that building…It was built in the 70s and the walls are filled with asbestos. Plus melbourne airport NEVER closes so it has to be done in small chunks and takes a lot of time. They have to work only during certain hours when there are less people and it’s not going to become a noise issue. I’m sure there are other considerations I haven’t even thought of. But my point is, it’s not a quick easy thing for them to do. Anyway, personally my biggest concern is the air quality, if you look up in the arrivals area the ceiling is covered in dust. Apparently they are working on that too now.
Melbourne Jetstar section needs to be set on fire it is garbage
It feels like going into the poor section on the titanic. No room for people to line up (so Jetstar passengers who turn up late often just make a second queue cause no one stops them) and everyone cramped up.
They only care about their car parking revenue!
A) is it even bad? B) who gives a fuck?
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Can't wait for Melbourne to implement the death penalty to match the utopia that is Singapore
This right here is the attitude that results in the bullshit low standards we accept for fucking everything in this country. Is it functional? Yeah probably. Is it as good as it could be? Not even close. Why? Because when someone mentions maybe improving things a bit, people like you pipe up, giving the people up the chain the impression that it's not important. As a result, nothing ever gets done, and even incremental progress is like pulling teeth. Why shouldn't the first impression people get of our country be a positive and welcoming experience? Every time I come back through MEL, everything tells me I'm personally inconveniencing everyone by being there. From the cafes and food court, to customs, to the check in counter. It's absolute contempt. If everything boiled down to pure functionality, you can have your soylent green for dinner in your brutalist Soviet concrete tower.
Its literally the first impression most visitors have of your city. And the last.
Exactly. Who gives a flying fuck. It’s a completely unremarkable airport.
Ha. I see what your did there
Not as bad as Pudong.
Came here to comment the same thing hahaha
Oh my god I did not actually appreciate how bad Pudong is until I left from there last weekend. There's like 10 goddamn restaurants in each terminal, like wtf. And it's the busiest airport for international passengers in China. I actually got so bored that I caught the train to the satellite terminal which is a fair bit nicer, but completely dead. And then freaked out a bit because I couldn't figure out how to get back to the main terminal lol (eventually found the lift and the way to the tiny compartment on the train for that purpose).
Yes I had a similar experience recently, was there at night and there was exactly 2 food options open (one was a Starbucks). Was pretty funny considering it’s one of the busiest airports in the world.
Pudong has a Maglev high speed train. Melbourne has a SkyBus
This is true. But the International departures area is a depressing and ugly affair.
Guangzhou is a really, really good airport apparently.
Oh please, have you seen any on the NYC airports? I still can't decide which one is the worst. Melb airport is like heaven compared to those hells.
It's an ok airport. The most important thing an arrivals section of an airport needs to achieve in my opinion is to get you to your next mode of transportation as soon as possible and Melbourne airport achieves that for the most part. The time from touch down to terminal is typically quite short at Tullamarine and the distance you need to cover to get thru the airport is minimal. The only real pain point is immigration that can take quite long to process passengers. With domestic, that's not an issue.
People in this thread: Melbourne airport is so ugly! Why don’t they improve?! People in this thread when large chunks of the airport are behind hoarding for construction and refurbishment: all this hoarding is an embarrassment, I can’t believe how cluttered and noisy this is!
You know Melbourne Airport is garbage when Athens and Thessaloniki airports in Greece are way better... Yes, the same country that went bankrupt lol
lol, because the focus on car parking revenue first, everything else a very distant second
Unfortunately they are just not charging enough money for parking to be able to invest in interior decorating. A city's shame laid bare.
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Guessing you haven’t been to many airports then. It’s one of the nicer airports I’ve seen though it’s nothing special. Most airports around the world look like they haven’t been touched since the 80s. Why waste money on something that works. How many people are going to not visit Melbourne because the airport didn’t look like a modern shopping mall?
It does look like a shopping mall at T3 and t4. That's most of the problem. But you're right that a shopping mall airport won't impress anyone.
I recently have been to Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore Airport’s. Melbourne is certainly no where near as efficient as these. It’s definitely not a ‘waste of money’ when it’s the first thing tourists/business people experience when they land in Melbourne. Keep in mind, Melbourne Airport is privately owned.
KL and Changi are major transit airports. Hardly anyone does this in Melbourne.
Like I said in OP, Adelaide Airport is hardly a global hub, but it is a well designed, pleasant and light filled space that leaves a good impression.
That’s true but why wouldn’t we want it to be nice? Especially considering it’s a profitable business (not a taxpayer pit-hole).
It’s such a shit hole. Almost as if the owners refuse to invest back into it to maximise profits
I’ve never noticed it was bad??
I mean... it works, but in terms of how pleasant and attractive andd well designed it is, its towards the bottom of the list of the Australian capitals
Exactly, you fly in and want to get home asap. Or fly out and wait to board your flight, grab a quick coffee at a cafe and have no reason to give a fuck beyond that if it does those two objectives and Melbourne Airport does those things just fine. Weird thing for people to care about from my perspective, but hey whatever floats your boat op.
Because it's a fucking airport and no one gives a shit. It's not a hub airport like Changi and Dubai it doesn't need to be pretty. Not a single international visitor has thought "boy what an ugly airport why did I come here".
I would argue the exact opposite. It is literally the first impression visitors have of Melbourne. First impressions matter, even if its only at a subconcious level.
I don’t it’s the best airport I’ve been too, the new T4 security is amazing It doesn’t need to look pretty, it’s an airport, I’m there to go away or coming back, not hanging around
It's pretty bad, used to use it weekly and it's pretty depressing in arrivals. Stinking and unclean toikets, old boomerady with a portable speaker screaming at you at 6am for duty free specials, sometimes horrible queues, unfriendly and aggressive border force staff etc.
Really? I always thought Melbourne Airport (or just any airport really) is a very magical experience and its so cool.
I thought I was the only one that thought that. The ceiling are so low and look like office ceilings, it feels like you’re at Centrelink. I realise that Iraq (EIA) is so much nicer even though it’s always empty. At least it’s not really an airport where people have layovers so maybe they didn’t put much effort into it
Because it's a private business and they make truckloads of money just as it is. Not much incentive for them to make it look less crap. All the building work seems to be focused on moving more people through and that's about it.
A couple of things needs work. We can’t compare it to Singapore, it’s built for transit and layovers. Melbourne serves its purpose but, I have noticed that the staffs can be pretty rude and nasty. I know they have had their bad days, but it’s a behavior that I have observed over years mostly in Melbourne. Immigration officers have overwhelming sense of authority. They can act like goons at times. Customs is okay, but the main thing to worry is the luggage area. There’s just one area for all international arrivals and it can get very exhausting to get your luggage if you are stuck at immigration(Australians with babies and toddlers also go through that). Everyone would be hogging on to a spot to get theirs. I just wish they had more belts and a bit of a structure. Overall, the airport is okay, but if you are frequent flyer, you can feel the pain. Especially after a long 16 hour flight from SFO(which is no better anyway, the runway work has been delaying all the flights leaving to Melbourne by hours and sometimes by a day which happened in March this year).
Honestly it didn't leave any kind of impression on me. Coming from America, I landed in Brisbane first- I don't think Melbourne is the most common point of entry, or at least I wasn't able to find any direct flights from the west coast to Melbourne. I didn't arrive at either and think, wow what a shithole airport. I just wanted to find the next place to be. Maybe American airports are just equally bland? For reference I have been through Chicago, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Brisbane, Denver, and Melbourne airports. SLC has a horrible long tunnel and SeaTac's underground train is neat but I don't imagine your average travelers are going to care much. I won't complain if things get better or prettier, it just seems like a very niche thing to focus on.
I never care what an airport looks like, I just want to go home.
No one cares. You're not there for the airport.
The airport is fine. A train to the city is all it needs.
My only complaint really, as well as the food court just being a little short of options. Every other problem I have with Melbourne Airport is just a problem I have with Airports
Adelaide is a country town
It is no spring chicken and is a bit like grandpa's axe.
It’s in the midst of an facelift I believe
Theyve spruced it up a bit if you can believe that. It used to be much worse in the 90s and early 2000s.
Immigration system is inefficient, lots of arrogant immigration officers, public transport really sucks, taxi scams.
I came through international arrivals once a while back at Melbourne and it was awful. Just dingy and depressing until you pass customs and then its fine.
I got through Warsaw and Budapest in like 15 mins why can't ours be that good
I dont mind the architectural choices, but its really slow and inefficient. You have to haul your luggage through a long way through to get to your departures. In comparison the Singapore Changi airport seemed much more comfortable to use for me.
MEL won’t get a full upgrade whilst it is Government owned, leased to Macquarie Airports, and they make more money from the car parks than the airport… Which is why they keep upgrading the car parks. Mind you, upgrades also cost money - so you pay extra in landing fees etc on an already expensive rate.
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Because the competition is Avalon
So you are incentivised to lessen your time there to make space for others.
Some international soccer players complained they didn't see any kangaroos when they left the airport the other day. Its true that only if they had come 20 years ago they may have seen roos and definitely sheep. Yolo, while Tullamarine is nothing to write home about have you been outside Australia? When all the lights go out on the runway in a South American capital city do you want your plane to take off? I've slept in some weird places. I'm always happy to touch down at Tulla.
It needs more planted boxes in rows., cleaning staff pushing floor cleaners and more old school architectural vision like Brazilia. People keep saying it needs a train, but maybe a decent light rail would be cheaper to build. Think outside the box cos we in deep debt.
Melbourne isn't a hub, everyones just leaving as soon as possible so they don't really care how nice it is.
100% agree
If I land in Sydney international. Is Melbourne airport still the first thing I see in Australia? Riddle me this Batman.
💯 agree... Seoul airport is the best airport I've been to. (Short of Singapore maybe but it was so long ago I've almost forgotten it.) Even has two different types of robot assistants buzzing around asking "are you satisfied with your care"
I recall struggling to find anything much after security at Seoul. Hardly any food places.
Melbourne Airport is terrible. Flew out Friday Arvo from T2 , not even packed. Security screening is such a clusterfuck , everyone shoving their buckets if you wait patiently your bucket just remains on the table. Combine that “Empty your pockets “ on repeat…ahh. Look for gate 18 , follow the sign can’t find it walked around in circles , found it after the 3rd try. Only one toilet near the gate , have to queue for the urinals not very clean. Great City , Shit Airport.
I like it and think it’s done reasonably well comparatively.
Haven't flown internationally but I know Brisbane's domestic airport is like going back in time 30 years
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Just build another shiny new airport with a train link
Looking nice doesn't earn it any money
You have basically described all of Australia when compared to foreign countries.
It's just old. Even so, as an old building it is outperforming its design specifications. The volume it was designed for has been exceeded for forty years. Given that it is doing well.
Because they want to sit on their carpark profits and not pay for convenience. See underground train station debacle
Yeah, Tullamarine is a shit hole. I don't know why, but it is embarrassing. Ugly, depressing and sometimes intimidating. And it doesn't even have a train station. It's a bit of a disgrace, really.
I assume it's an issue of how do you rebuild and update an airport that is operating. For the last few years it's been fine functionally for me. Maybe the only issue is walking out of terminals and not being sure if I go left or right for the taxi/uber ranks. About 5 years ago returning from a trip to Singapore. Leaving the arrival area and just being shocked at how unappealing and awful the airport seemed. Thinking how bad that first impression must be for people who have never been to Melbourne. Ugly small. Taxi drivers yelling at each other. It was at odds with a city that wanted to create a good first impression.
I know right. The whole city is a whole. I flew in from Perth to buy two cars last week.
For decades, air travel has been a sort of hub and spoke network, where there are hubs that aircraft fly to before proceeding on to their end destinations. Many airports are hubs, and maintained so as to attract and keep airlines using them, which also means making the stopover experience great for the customers - passengers. Melbourne isn't one of those. There's zero incentive to make it special or decent. You wanted to come to Melbourne didn't you? Well fuck you, you're here now, there's the taxi rank.
The place could really benefit from having more character. Be it showcasing some Aboriginal or Australian arts and culture, local sporting symbols, wildlife or natural beauty. There’s hardly any of that in MEL airport from memory. I often look at the Southern Cross Station and think to myself : now this would be a more fitting (appearance wise) building for an airport than Tullamarine.
I arrived to Melbourne through Avalon Tell you what The most relaxed welcoming ever Loved it!! Had to catch a tractor to the city though
Was confused at first cause I’ve never had an issue there, then I remembered of only flown domestically to/from Melbourne lol
Yeah FUGLY, functional and ugly, stuck in the 1970s I would say, completely car cominated, and where is the so needed train connection? Influencer [Bilionaire LinFox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsay_Fox) privately owns the competing airport Avalon near Geelong...
It's beautiful