Tullamarine best airport in Australia/Pacific

[justinbrett]

You just gave me flashbacks of the (four?) years of tulla fwy roadworks that we endured, didn't that make early flights fun...

I lived in VIC for three years (2008-2010) and it would take me more than 2 hours to get from the Monash freeway to the airport on a Friday afternoon.

I gave up on Citylink and started going cross country to use the northern ring road. Even then nearly missed quite a few flights and had to pay for the expensive parking.

I know it has improved since then but I’m still scarred by it.

 

[serfty]

... T3 is old and no longer fit-for-purpose. The passageway to the gates is so narrow that during peak times it's ridiculously crowded, and when boarding, the queues extend into that same passageway, making things even worse.

What they have done at T3 is to fill much of the gate lounge space with retail progressively making the situation worse.

 

[33kft]

What they have done at T3 is to fill much of the gate lounge space with retail progressively making the situation worse.

We're just slowly getting our own Changi Jewel in Melbourne

 

[MEL_Traveller]

What they have done at T3 is to fill much of the gate lounge space with retail progressively making the situation worse.

Yeah… so much so that over the years my elderly mother went from being perfectly capable of walking from checkin to the gates to requiring a wheelchair… simply because the walk through all the shopping doubled or tripled the journey

 

[Doddler]

If you're not able to get into a lounge, and you're there after about 7 or 8pm, Melbourne Airport is like a ghost town. Bars all closed at a ridiculously early time. I regularly fly from Melbourne to Perth and embarrassed to say at Perth airport you actually get the feeling you're at a city airport. At Melbourne in the evening it feels like a regional airport.

It's the first and last place tourists might see of Victoria, and we know from research that first and last impressions are lasting. In that sense, Melbourne Airport is a shocker. Especially for a city that claims to be the nightlife & cultural capital of Australia.

 

[Foreigner]

I wonder if it's better to compare single terminals rather than whole airports.

As a terminal, I really like Sydney T1. Much better and nicer than Melbourne's T2 or Brisbane's International Terminal.

It's just a shame about the transport links to T2/3 - although it's really easy to get into the CBD with the train.

I don't want to use a 24/7 airport in my home country as that involves catching flights at ungodly hours.

I’d agree about SYD T1. Pleasant environment. I used MEL international twice for international flights over past three months. To me it looked gloomy. Something missing there. Not lively like T1 SYD with bright lighting and feeling of big space.

 

[jrfsp]

Agree with the "appalling" T4. I refuse to fly on any airline departing from that terminal. The rest of the airport is pretty good though.

T4 isnt that bad if you're on an airline other than JQ (VA essentially uses T4).

The JQ pier however is such a hike with a cluster**** of boarding gates and no seats.

 

[RooFlyer]

To me it looked gloomy. Something missing there.

I think mainly because its an old, generally low ceilinged building and its design and placement between the 2 domestic piers limits useful expansion/updating, except further and further out.

Not sure if this is a good or useful thing to say, but I think after bombs started going off in and around terminals and buildings in general in the 1970s, they started making airport buildings much higher roofed/more open ??to dissipate the forces if it happened#. MEL's core is from the previous era (designed in the '60s). Well, that's what I've thought anyway.

# Much like very modern terminals have roadways placed away from the buildings - for similar reasons I think.

 

[Foreigner]

I think you’re on the ball about the low ceilings. Both SYD and SIN have very high ceilings. I remember arriving at JFK, not sure which terminal, but the confined spaces around the carousels was daunting. This can be noticed in SYD T3 and T2 arrival areas on ground floor.

 

[antycbr]

# Much like very modern terminals have roadways placed away from the buildings - for similar reasons I think.

Correct - in Adelaide there’s now a lovely piazza where the roadway used to be in front of arrivals, in a very modern terminal.

 

[RooFlyer]

Correct - in Adelaide there’s now a lovely piazza where the roadway used to be in front of arrivals, in a very modern terminal.

Although I recently heard a story that security wasn't the reason that roadway was abandoned. Anyone? Or am I imagining things again?

 

[SYD]

Correct - in Adelaide there’s now a lovely piazza where the roadway used to be in front of arrivals, in a very modern terminal.

I have a vague recollection of the dropoff at the “new“ ADL terminal being closer but that must have been for a very short period?

I think the current sprint across the piazza in the rain is a bit long unless you can get the covered bit. SYD T1 arrivals also has a “piazza” that can be particularly unpleasant in wind and rain.

 

[dajop]

The "hike" in T4 that everyone complains about is not that long (by world standards anyway). From furthest gate in T4 to luggage hall is about 400m. By comparison from the far gates in T2 (new pier) to immigration is 480m. In T1, furthest gate to luggage hall is about 300m. (For reference, Brisbane Intl has a similar walk from the far gates to immigration of 400m. And SYD T2 can have 300m walks, so not all that different).

If you want to whinge about airport walks, have used BRU a couple of times (which has similar pax numbers to MEL), on Brussels Airlines (SN) lying a non-Schengen flight. The only lounge non-home carrier star golds can access in the Schengen zone, and as a result I've had a couple of 1km walks from lounge to gate, with a stop at immigration enroute.

 

[RealtimeY]

I think mainly because its an old, generally low ceilinged building

I think the current MEL T2 structure is quite recent (2011). They used to have an airier waiting area (first photo here) but it looks like they built over it again in 2017 to turn it into the current luxury retail walk/tunnel

"The Luxury retail arcade takes advantage of its existing double-height space"
So they actually did convert the large open space into a tunnel.

 

[boomy]

The "hike" in T4 that everyone complains about is not that long (by world standards anyway). From furthest gate in T4 to luggage hall is about 400m. By comparison from the far gates in T2 (new pier) to immigration is 480m. In T1, furthest gate to luggage hall is about 300m. (For reference, Brisbane Intl has a similar walk from the far gates to immigration of 400m. And SYD T2 can have 300m walks, so not all that different).

If you want to whinge about airport walks, have used BRU a couple of times (which has similar pax numbers to MEL), on Brussels Airlines (SN) lying a non-Schengen flight. The only lounge non-home carrier star golds can access in the Schengen zone, and as a result I've had a couple of 1km walks from lounge to gate, with a stop at immigration enroute.

Agree 100%. The hike at MEL T4 is not that long.

Had the pleasure of doing the Schengen/non-Schengen hike in BRU few times in recent years so I know exactly what you mean. For a really good hike with zero travelators I can recommend transiting at IST airport.

 

[RooFlyer]

I think the current MEL T2 structure is quite recent (2011). They used to have an airier waiting area (first photo here) but it looks like they built over it again in 2017 to turn it into the current luxury retail walk/tunnel

"The Luxury retail arcade takes advantage of its existing double-height space"
So they actually did convert the large open space into a tunnel.

I'm certainly no expert on the MEL development, so am in no way 'arguing' , but Stage 2 was more about extending the piers outwards onto the aprons, wasn't it? What I mentioned originally? I was more talking about the original core of T2 - check-in, landside, immigration, security, baggage area, landside after that. Mostly confined by the 'low-ish ceiling' structure of the original build, making it all a bit gloomy. Contrast with the more modern airports which tend to the cavernous scale with lots of natural light - think HKG, IST etc.

But upthread I still said I thought MEL was one of the better airports in the country because of its relative compactness overall.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

The "hike" in T4 that everyone complains about is not that long (by world standards anyway).

Or Australian standards - entire MEL all under one roof - countless F & B offerings which were not there pre various rebuilds - so you gotta walk past a few shops - FFS seriously? Dont wanna shop? Keep walking nobody is holding a gun at your heads? Walk is too far? Have you seen the size of the guts on some AFFers at get togethers? (Mine included) A bit of extra walking would do is all the world of good.

Don’t ever forget 99% of MEL users have never heard of AFF so you will never hear how happy the vast majority are

 

[Beano]

As an international traveller i like the short link between INT and DOM.
I wonder when it was assessesd. Most is still a building site and security gates are old fashioned.

 

[justinbrett]

The "hike" in T4 that everyone complains about is not that long (by world standards anyway). From furthest gate in T4 to luggage hall is about 400m. By comparison from the far gates in T2 (new pier) to immigration is 480m. In T1, furthest gate to luggage hall is about 300m. (For reference, Brisbane Intl has a similar walk from the far gates to immigration of 400m. And SYD T2 can have 300m walks, so not all that different).

If you want to whinge about airport walks, have used BRU a couple of times (which has similar pax numbers to MEL), on Brussels Airlines (SN) lying a non-Schengen flight. The only lounge non-home carrier star golds can access in the Schengen zone, and as a result I've had a couple of 1km walks from lounge to gate, with a stop at immigration enroute.

I think when many people complain they’re talking about the hike from the lounges in T1 to the JQ gates. That is a hike.

 

[dajop]

I think when many people complain they’re talking about the hike from the lounges in T1 to the JQ gates. That is a hike.

Only marginally longer than the equivalent walk in SYD! And an absolute breeze compared to the equivalent walk+bus+walk at SIN . A niche audience as well. Something you don't bother doing if you don't have time.