My Worst Airport - Tullamarine, Melbourne. What's Yours?

[mannej]

As per any airport, it is all down to timing.

Last time through T1 -> T2 there was not a queue in sight, much compared to PER T1 and LHR T3.

MEL T2 worst in the world? Not by a long stretch sorry.

 

[boomy]

CDG would seem to be a nice airport (it looks nice)

LOL I thought it looks horrendous.
The tubes in the middle reminds me of an 80's shopping centre and the way leading to gates feel like inspired from the North Korean infiltration tunnels
Then you enter the claustrophobic DF, trying to escape the masses via tiny lift going up to an area that looks like a never ending construction site just to end up in a mediocre *A lounge.

 

[Isochronous]

LAX is bad, but CDG is truly horrid.

 

[Renato1]

My worst. YNAB.
It didn't even have a terminal.
And the landings were really rough.
And you had to carry most of your own luggage off the aircraft. One bag on the pallet.
Did I mention the earmuffs requirement?

I thought you were talking about some weird fourth world country airport.

I just looked it up - and you are talking about an Australian Airport.
Regards,
Renato

 

[tuapekastar]

MEL is a long way from either end of the spectrum. I have a hatred for airports that require train/bus connections between terminals and charge for it! SYD, BNE and PER cone to mind as offenders (though I think rectification has occurred in a couple of cases). MEL is all nicely under one roof (the hideous T4 excepted, and even that is being redone). I also bemoan the lack of smokers' facilities for transit pax there, though I suspect not too many are affected. It was a stupid PC decision to completely ban it, made by (I better stop there - suffice to say I disagree with the lack of provision of a smoking area for those people 'stuck' airside for hours.

 

[Renato1]

MEL is a long way from either end of the spectrum. I have a hatred for airports that require train/bus connections between terminals and charge for it! SYD, BNE and PER cone to mind as offenders (though I think rectification has occurred in a couple of cases). MEL is all nicely under one roof (the hideous T4 excepted, and even that is being redone). I also bemoan the lack of smokers' facilities for transit pax there, though I suspect not too many are affected. It was a stupid PC decision to completely ban it, made by (I better stop there - suffice to say I disagree with the lack of provision of a smoking area for those people 'stuck' airside for hours.

They've made it even worse for smokers - blocking off huge parts of the outside area.

Compare to say Singapore - nice outdoor areas with a bar on the roof of the airport (curiously, at night some of those outdoor areas on the roof are boiling, but others are quite okay)

We locals are stuck with it. But foreign visitors may not return, and advise their smoking friends to give the place a miss.
Regards,
Renato

 

[OzEire]

Lots of discussion here about the terminals and while I tend to agree with much of it I'd add my disdain for long and tiresome (aircraft) taxiing due to traffic congestion, poor design, etc. DXB, JFK, LAX, AUH spring to mind; especially frustrating part of a long (14 hr?) flight sitting on the ground waiting with no in-flight service, toilet or IFE in many cases.

 

[TomVexille]

Never flown out of MEL internationally.
Though it is the worst place to checkin with JQ.Hate it.
Definitely a lot of worse places.I dislike LHR,MIA,terminal 5 at ORD,AMM was ordinary pre-reno,and another who dislikes PER.

Ooh yes, how could I forget MIA.

T5 at ORD is undergoing a massive face lift so it's not all bad.

 

[clazman]

I like the idea that HK airport has with smokers rooms... so funny sitting outside and see legs only as the head are in the smoke flume.

For the record i am a non smoker

 

[ReLoad]

They've made it even worse for smokers - blocking off huge parts of the outside area.

Compare to say Singapore - nice outdoor areas with a bar on the roof of the airport (curiously, at night some of those outdoor areas on the roof are boiling, but others are quite okay)

We locals are stuck with it. But foreign visitors may not return, and advise their smoking friends to give the place a miss.
Regards,
Renato

I don't mean to be super argumentative, but you are honestly saying that people will not revisit a city like Melbourne because of the lack of in terminal smoking facilities?

 

[anat0l]

I don't mean to be super argumentative, but you are honestly saying that people will not revisit a city like Melbourne because of the lack of in terminal smoking facilities?

People can and will dismiss visiting a city solely on how they judge the airport, and it may hinge on what may be perceived as something small / trivial. IMO that is, in and of itself, categorically irrational, but there you go.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Well, I hope it's still there. I just asked staff - it was a bit of a walk to a barren little room.
At least it wasn't as bad as Bangkok smoking rooms.

There are no smoking areas in the SYD international terminal once you have entered the secure area (ie - there is no where for you to smoke after you have gone through immigration).

Smoke before you get to check-in!

 

[michaelj]

T1 at CDG is my least favourite by a long way. There was a whole thread dedicated to CDG failings, and there are plenty, a year or 2 ago!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think Melbourne and sydney airports are a triumph of design... from a commercial perspective forcing passengers through unnecessary journeys through duty free and other concessions on their way to find their gates.

we all remember the old MEL... immigration and then a short 2 second walk to the gates. Now? loop the loop and considerably longer walking time, which now requires one of my parents to get a wheelchair for no other reason.

i can't think off he top of my head another major airport where commercial comsiderations are compulsory rather than incidental?

 

[c814875]

As many others have said MNL is by far worst. Longest line I have ever been in was AUH - ten people wide and 200 metres long........
Also regularly takes me over an hour and a half to get out of JFK.

 

[soorox]

Granted I did have a problem with Melbourne last year when my international arriving plane was forced to park in the boon docks due to congestion and it took me 45 minutes just to exit the plane and then another 15/20 minutes to do a tour of the aprons in a bus. To make matters worse I still had to wait for my baggage (even though it was tagged priority) and therefore also missed my connecting flight. So Melbourne in my eyes is also far from perfect.

Well I guess we all have to get use to it, arrivals into MEL T2 (especially in the mornings) will get quite fun. Quite a lot of new flights will be added during the morning and afternoon departure bank from this year and bus gates will be quite common. In addition to Gate 15, we now have 2 more bus gates located near Gate 10.

MEL should get better though, they are in the process of totally revamping the entire T2 terminal with new high roof and all, it will look fantastic.

​

Source: https://urban.melbourne/transport/2...entation-reveals-a-new-international-terminal

 

[chelzmalee]

LAX arrivals is pretty bad. Simply because you get off the aircraft and walk through dark, dingy corridors with no signs, pictures, nothing. It's a pretty depressing "WELCOME TO OUR COUNTRY". That said, Tom Bradley International terminal is quite nice to leave from.

SYD annoys me because they rip every last cent from you, in every way possible.

 

[dajop]

i can't think off he top of my head another major airport where commercial comsiderations are compulsory rather than incidental?

Be assured that even some of the best airports have compulsory commercial considerations. Usually they are more subtle than MEL departures though. What is disappointing at MEL is the lack of a tiny publicly accessible doorway to the shortcut ... sure provide the snaking path through the shops for the infrequent travellers, but for those of us who never have any intent of buying DF and pass through MEL often ... give us a short cut! Because they make me walk through the store, I always stop off and get a squirt of fragrance or two on the way past (petty I know )

 

[Deleted member 26544]

Of the airports I have visited so far I liked CDG the least. BLL was great for a big child like me.

The immigration queues at LAX aren't pleasant but the rest of the airport is 'meh'.

Yet to experience MNL.

 

[medhead]

I'll throw in CDG too! Oh my goodness........

Out of the major airports visited CDG is my least favourite followed by JFK.
But the overall worst airport must be HAK which offers a unique combination of urine and cigarette smoke odour inside the terminal.

Glad someone finally mentioned it. Flew into T1 a few weeks ago. A circular, concrete escapee from the 1960s school of concrete architectural design. Stark concrete with dated features that were barely acceptable in the simpler times back then. The 2CV of airports. Massed queue started when uniformed types were checking passports at the end of the aerobridge from the aircraft. Who knows why when there was a later, offical immigration check point. Walking around in circles was great fun, not knowing if I was actually getting anywhere useful. the rubber mat travelator was an experience for sure, then the long travelator up a level across the empty void in the center of the terminal. Then, after doing about 5 laps, it's out to the crowded terminal transfer train.

In terms of clear paths IST was down there towards the bottom. Doors marked with Exit signs and with no entry signs.



YNAB? Does that still exist? Thought it might have been rehabilitated a few years ago. Have you been to YBEE?