Melbourne International Airport Review

For a major city airport it lack a few things.
No trains from the terminals to the town centre
Baggage takes forever to come through
Most shops start to close around 6pm (domestic)
Common Melbourne you can do better

Bit confusing to find the right gate for a 1st traveller...(ADL - MEL~ MEL-HOB)

Very large airport, however I can t wait until there is a direct train to and from the airport like other capital cities around the world.

One of the busiest airplane of Australia. Always amazed how clean and maintained it is. It's easy to find your way around with all the signs posted. Staff is always on a lookout to help people. And love their services for people with mobility issues.

The only problems are parking and public transport to and from airport.

it's too expensive to park there and no direct metro/train to airport which has always puzzled me.

So dated and old airport. Third world country airport!

International arrivals area is a joke. Space is devoted to useless duty free shopping when it would be better used to fit more immigration kiosks to help expedite processing. A backwards e-gate system requires you to obtain a meaningless ticket from self serve kiosks before proceeding to an automated immigration gate. Like other countries, you should be able to go through e-gates without a ticket. This nonsensical 2 step process forces all arriving passengers to queue twice. Also there are too few kiosks and not enough e-gates. The baggage area is cramped by the lines queuing for customs. Yesterday a member of staff was going on a power trip yelling at passengers who where searching for the long line to clear customs, making them walk the opposite direction around baggage carousel 6 due to lack of room and disorganisation of the entire area. The terminal is woefully small and most staff are obnoxious to say the least. What a shameful way to welcome people to our city.

My first in Australia. I traveled fa4 from Canada, another side of the world. This trip is the extremely bad experience that I ever had before. I took Virgin airlines departured from Hobart to melbMelbo. The flight was delayed two hours. I missed my transfer flight CX from Melbourne back to HK. Virgin staff told me that they already rebooked next available CX flight fir me, that's next day afternoon flight. I arrived Melbourne airport 3.5 hours before departure. However, I couldn't check in at CX counter because tgrt didn't have my booking or my booking somehow was cancelled. I went to Virgin airline to check the status but they alsi couldn't locate my booking on their. Then I was standing in front of their counter for more than 45 minutes. Then I had been told my seat was secured already at CX and asked me to access to CX counter for check in. I didn't trust them and asked them to arrange a staff accompany with me to CX for check in. When we arrived CX counter, Virgin staff approached CX check in for me. Again, CX still couldn't find my booking record. Virgin staff asjed CX staff do a favor for them, let me check in without a ticket number. I eventually got my boarding pass but I had have taken a middle seat which drive me to a dead end. I have blood circulation problem that I must stand up to release my body in every hour. Sitting at the middle seat prevent me to stand up regularly. I foresee that I wouldn't sick for this after I return to canaCa, my home.

This's really a nightmare to me. Really bad experience. I highly recommend people DON'T take Virgin airlines. Not a friendly airlines at all. Staffs don't care what you need, don't know what they perform good in their job. They just finish their job and then wash their hands.

After this trip, no more Australia trip in the rest of my life.

Considering there is no train line to the airport means either spending money on taxis, ubers or sitting on a bus from southern cross station which can be a real turn off. Also compared to other major airports, this one seems to be lacking alot. No decent free lengthy wifi, no smokers room inside, food and drink options are pretty basic. I think if you want to appeal to the rest of the world you really need to step up your game. I will commend the price drop for parking though as in the past you would need to either win the lottery or sell all your possessions in order to afford to park here.

Not very impressive I've seen better airports however it is common for city the size of Melbourne

ok customer service, not overly helpful, but very impressed how you can now do your own bag drop and check in by machine's

Great place to find your way through well signed friendly staff

Most inefficient and rude security. They do not pass security Information to travelers . Instead, they spend time chatting with their colleagues and show big attitude if a traveller ask a question. Today I missed my work related trip to USA due to ignorance and unprofessional and rude behavior of security and border protection.mainly due to security. Melbourne airport, you need to fix these people unless you will disappoint more travelers. Please note your ineffeciancy should not effect traveller's plans.
In addition, almost all the staff I dealt regarding my matter today was racist. (even though I'm an Australia citizen)

Can be very time consuming to find a park in the short term car park especially in the mornings. Can take up to ten minutes after entering the car park before finally finding a place. It's also very expensive when compared with other international airports.

Aug 2018 All the good stuff is negated by the embarrassing ( I live here) queues because the e passport system is too slow and not enough terminals. If you hate queues don t come to this airport internationally, I just went thru 4 other airports 8 times on same trip. All were smooth as immigration wise

Dec 2018 - update - came through immigration , there were probably only two large plane landings as the queues were not as bad as my previous review. so I am upping it to 3 stars as all the other elements of the airport are great. However, they need to string many more of the e passport readers right back down the corridor. There were still many confused and frustrated travellers at the entrance to the photo scanners. Customs was very quick. Oh, also on the way out, ie leaving Australia, immigration was excellent using E Passports, the system to leave has better capacity than the one to come back !

Terminal 1-3: The toilets are not very clean and quite crowded. The shops are too busy and waited for unreasonable long time for a McDonald s takeaway. The signs are not clear enough, no direction for Skybus on the 2nd floor except on top of an escalator. The staff at counter inside the airport even suggested me not to buy a Myki explorer! But the Skybus was a good experience.

Security very tight federal police everywhere hope this helps Melbourne get back to normal

Its the gateway to everywhere Melbourne or anywhere in the world its a big airport and lots of people go through it a day

By far THE WORST airport, I'm forced to use... Seems like a airport-customs security soap-recording studio and inflated priced taxi-driver heaven... Extremely overpriced car parking system, no train station. Roadsigns around the airport are horrible especially for tourists.

Very surprised that you have to pay for a trolley, I ve never seen this before ..

Excellency of the ground staff who immediately saw that we were foreigners and who came to help us with the check-in of luggage and hold tickets that would never have happened in France we have to manage bravo to all Australians met in Sydney Melbourne and Perth who brought us their help and kindness during this stay we had lessons to take pascala fresnais

There is a shower room and an area for children to play, which is very user-friendly.

Customer service was awful, everyone seemed unwilling to help. We had an oversized item that we needed to claim tax for which we went to the border of security downstairs on the arrival to do so. The guy who attended us claimed that he couldn t check of our receipt for us and had to take it on as carry on to do so at the trs past customs. he must of been completely blind as it was literally a 34 inch monitor in its original box how on earth is that not oversize. He exclaimed that we couldn t argue back and that s how it is, we ended up not claiming our tax as our item was for check in and the claim for goods is past customs. First time in the Melbourne airport and possibly the worst!

Passport control on arrival is extremely slow, long waiting que ! Busy airport n seems like less staff

They action very quickly, check in and check out just very short time, all staff are friendly, they will always say Hello to you, you can find Beer bar, Vietnamese Pho, MC Donald's... here.
Especially, from 1 July 2017, department customers declaration are No need, please see pictures below.

Nice clean airport with friendly staff and a wide selection of restaurants and shops.

One of the worst airports ive been. The airport has no info counters whatsoever and no one knew where to ask help for wifi-connection which didnt work for some reason. How is that possible? I literally asked 10 customer servants walking around and none of them knew where to ask help. Finally found wifi at loynge although they said that im not allowed to use their wifi. Suckers.

Badly laid out airport in a badly laid out city. Takes ages to walk between gates.

Expensive parking! No train connection to the city!

Really nice little airport - good air-con, nice waiting areas and good customs!

Tired grubby place made awful by terrible traffic management and no railway. The only reason is not 1 star is I have been to Africa and America. Service of security contractors is also reptilian, muppets who are legends in their own lunch time at giving citizens a hard time.

Pretty easy to get around and navigate but Jetstar has a long walk to the baggage claim.

Terminals are in need of maintanence. Cracks in plaster, windows dirty, and alot of the seats have chewing gum and coffee stains on them. Toilets are dirty and there was graffiti in both of the toilets i used whilst in transit. I know this is picky but the price you pay for parking, food and services whilst here should mean that the airport is maintained to a high standard.

when I arrived at Melbourne airport I was welcomed I was stopped by the customs I do not speak English they still let me pass because I had food in the bag that came from from the plane they let me go with the food the airport it is super beautiful with a beautiful gallery and a super distributor in several languages and well secured

Long queue, but moved fast to catch my flight to Singapore.

Qantas domestic food hall is dirty. Food all over tables and floor. Haven't seen anyone even trying to clean or clear.

Awfull airport. Signs "informations" but nowhere desk. Chairs not good very uncomfortable and minimal. Ground Stuff of airlines only 3 h before flight available.

Good memories of when I used to study here. Fast efficient staff

Transit... not shopping here because the parking fee KILLS!

I agree for parking it's probably amongst the most expensive in the world. As for Jetstar and Qantas, having to walk across the tarmac to board most flights around Australia is wrong as Virgin and International prove they can provide covered walkways. The Airport will need to lift its game

Great idea to put screens at international arrivals. It's a long corridor!

The airport itself is a modern international terminal with some slightly crummy domestic terminals, and in itself it's not so bad.

However, once you start looking at the pricing for the parking, you're already talking insane prices. Beyond this, the airport is held hostage by the taxicab unions meaning any form of inexpensive transportation to and from the airport is absolutely impossible.

Because of the transportation issues, this airport is a major disappointment and embarrassment to Melbourne, particularly for European travellers who cannot understand why it's so difficult and expensive to reach the city.

To rub salt into the wound, international departures is a disaster, as even us Australians are treated like traitors as we depart the country. Disgraceful.

Hating the setup at international arrivals due to renovations

Melbourne Airport arrivals looks and feels like something from 50 years ago in a third world country. It is simply embarrassing.
Poorly planned, dirty and uncomfortable it is a terrible introduction to what is one of the best cities in the world.

My wife's mother returned to Vietnam today and requires wheelchair assistance.She boarded a Vietnam Airlines flight at 11.25AM and was assisted by a female employee who I suspect was from Great Britian. Previous experience wasn't great but today, the Qantas employee was very kind and considerate when we were saying goodbye before she was wheeled away. I hope we see more people like you every time we use the airport. Your kindness made saying goodbye bearable for my wife. Thank you!

Australia has no better airport. But I prefer this than SYD or BNE.

Looks like a 3rd world airport compared to the others I have visited In other countries (Example singapore etc ...) .. feels more like a hospital, everybody looks depressed including all people that work there.

Its great time for me to visit Melbourne Airport on Chrismas Day. Good Services and Nice staff. Beautiful place.

August 4 Currently very limited Aircraft traffic mostly goods, Car parks all empty very few Taxis attend less than a dozen.

Pretty decent for an airport. Expensive for food and parking as usual of course though

Good airport
Tigerair staff helped us to do the check in
Happy to help people

Best airport ever! Good staff and lots of shops and cafes! I love this airport!

Need more entertainment around the airport. Boring at the moment. T4 has better food court than T2.

Liked the process here. You don't have to wait for check in, immigration.

Love going away. The airport is far more entertaining than it used to be.

Gate 12 and 14 floor stink worse than feet..nice to start your flight with a headache

Waiting for a long time, the airport is clean with free wifi.

Great staff and service, good experience, but looks old and not as modern as Sydney Airport. Also no train service from the airport to the city, only buses or taxis.

Flying at the right time makes all the difference. Not great if you're spending more than a couple of hours.

World's shittiest airport? Not quite.. I still award that prize to NAIA in Manila, Philippines. Melbourne Airport is a close second however. Well done!

I'd somewhat be ok if your stranglehold on transport options resulted in effective ways to leave the airport, but you time and time again manage to leave hundreds of taxis waiting at a nearby queue while we stand waiting at the rank for over 20 minutes. While you're too busy mismanaging that, I've been touted every time I land and even after making a scene to security about it he continued to approach visitors. What a shambles

Passengers just came out of a flight and we were all heading towards Immigration check point when an elderly man fell to the ground. My husband and I quickly went to help him. We got him to sit down. Hubby went to get help. I was carrying my baby and walked over to the area where four ground staff were waiting for passengers to exit the plane. Told them about the old man needing help and they said to go find customer service to get a wheel chair. What I didn't understand was that they made us do the work. They had their walkie talkies with them..could have helped me call someone. I felt like they didn't care much. what if that man went unconscious or something. After several mins, we got someone to come over with a wheel chair. It is very upsetting to see those staff members behaving that way.

[Wheelchair Accessible] I arrived at Terminal 3 by the Virgin Australia flight, but I was in trouble because I could not find a place to exchange foreign currency. (There is it if you go to the next terminal 2.) Access to the city of Melbourne is cheap by Skelbus's Melbourne City Express flight. If you purchase from the screen of smartphone or iPhone even after arrival at the airport without discount at ticket vending machine discount will be effective. (It was an adult one way AUD 18.75 as of March, 2019. If it is a ticket vending machine it will be $ 1 higher than this.

This airport is deserved 0 star, just awful. Eat well, drink well, spend your time well and wisely elsewhere and then go to this airport for departure. There is 0 thing you can do if you get there early.

Very fast check in and process getting through security. Staff were really helpful. However there is no free Wi-Fi in the airport which was disappointing.

A couple of years back we (myself, my wife and our 5 kids aged 2,4,10,12 and 15) were traveling from Melbourne to Gold Coast. We'd gone through the metal detectors and bag screening. The security guard noticed some scissors in our bag and informed us they weren't allowed. We explained that we brought them along to cut the cable ties we used to secure the stroller for our 2 year old which had been checked in with the baggage, but rules are rules and so we unhesitatingly disposed of them. We then proceeded towards the terminal for our flight. On our way, we realised we'd left one of our carry on bags back at the screening stations so we turned back to get it. When we got back and found the forgotten bag, we then noticed our 2 year old was missing. Amid our frantic searching for him, the smart arse security guard 'joked' that we wouldn't be needing our stroller after all. We finally found our boy at the top of the escalators but before I could get to him, he slipped over on the escalator and caught his little finger in the moving steps. I thought it had ripped the tip of his pinky finger off, it was black and bleeding. I rushed him back to the security gates hoping they'd be able to direct me to a medical station. No luck. We don't have one!!!!!!! What the..........? An international airport without so much as a suitably trained medical officer or nurse?!?!?!?!? To make matters worse, the medical kit they did have was woefully ill equipped without even a bandaid. Thankfully the wound looked worse than it was and we cleaned his finger as best as we could with paper towel and wrapped it up and made our way to the nearest chemist to buy our own bandaids, with a view to getting it looked at properly at a clinic or hospital at our destination.
Thanks for nothing, Melbourne Airport. You guys are, at best, atrocious. And as for that smart arse security guard with his 'joke'........................

The layout is quite reasonable, and it is strongly recommended that the tax refund be expanded, waiting for a long time! !

Great Airport but GOD DAMN the morning delays at M1

Could not agree with Aidan more, I went to it's grand opening and all I see now is that it's busier with no process streamlining or improved services! It really is an embarrassment to the city and country as a whole. Traversing it is a nightmare inside and out and staff rudeness seems to be the only thing excelled at other than overpricing of all services provided but of course why would they care it's a monopoly that can do what it likes. Also amazes me that they can't even provide a smoker lounge inside, as in how hard is it to provide a room like all other international airports do? In essence it's primitive, disheveled, chaotic and rude, someone needs a massive boot in the butt to turn this around.

I know that there is no other place you can go to catch a plane out of this city but the service at this airport is very poor. Security in particular in the international terminal are incredibly rude. They will overtly say things that are clearly meant to be condescending.

if Melbourne is the worlds most liveable city, then they must have to do something more to make this airport comes in the top list of airports

I have been there twice and every time I saw stuffs are doing their job as per their best.
Immigration process is very first compare to other airports.

Overly complicated. Hard to find way around, especially when tired from flight.

Good
But parking is expensive

I was discriminated against by a security staffer because of my skin color. It was a blatant and hostile offense to which people turned their heads to and yet no one said anything.

Please train your staff to be respectful of everyone regardless of race or color. Unprofessionalism and prejudice from staff should not be tolerated.

Everytime a little wind picks up, flights are delayed. Terminals are packed and tight. Upgrade needed.

Absolutely terrible airport. They have just "improved" the car park. By improve they mean tighter car spaces so people will be opening doors on your car. Horrific "improvements" Melbourne airport. Absolutely greedy.