Melbourne international arrivals shamble 9 Mar 24

[Gne]

Arrived into Melbourne yesterday morning to an absolute shambles in the terminal.

Shoulder to shoulder for nearly an hour from the arrival gate to duty free. Urinals overflowing on to the floor in the two toilets I visited (and decided not to use). Conga line after baggage collection blocking access to carousels 1, 2, 3 and 4. Customs overwhelmed and opened emergency exit door near carousal 1 to try and clear the congestion, which caused added confusion as folk queue jumped to be in that line.

Nearly three hours from disembarking ( from a remote park - don't ask about the crowded bus) to freedom.

Wonder what impression visitors and tourists gained form the experience. Made my past experiences at Lagos, Kabul, Tarawa and the old days at LAX seem like a pleasant and efficient process.

Gne

[TBM-Legend]

Welcome to ‘Straya.

BNE ITB also disorganised, threadbare and filthy staffed by people who treat pax as cattle.

[CharlieLimaX-Ray]

Welcome to the lucky country!

[morno]

Welcome to ‘Straya.

BNE ITB also disorganised, threadbare and filthy staffed by people who treat pax as cattle.

If Brisy thinks they can host an olympics with that abortion of an airport, they are absolutely kidding themselves! 3 arrivals together and the place is at a standstill.

[triton140]

Arrived into Melbourne yesterday morning to an absolute shambles in the terminal.

Shoulder to shoulder for nearly an hour from the arrival gate to duty free. Urinals overflowing on to the floor in the two toilets I visited (and decided not to use). Conga line after baggage collection blocking access to carousels 1, 2, 3 and 4. Customs overwhelmed and opened emergency exit door near carousal 1 to try and clear the congestion, which caused added confusion as folk queue jumped to be in that line.

Nearly three hours from disembarking ( from a remote park - don't ask about the crowded bus) to freedom.

Wonder what impression visitors and tourists gained form the experience. Made my past experiences at Lagos, Kabul, Tarawa and the old days at LAX seem like a pleasant and efficient process.

Gne

Par for the course these days - on 25 Feb the queues were at least a couple of hours long, the congestion was so bad it would have been impossible to get out in the case of fire, etc. Impossible to move around some of the carousels with the crush of people - an extremely dangerous situation and Melbourne Airport needs to address this urgently.

Apart from the significant safety issues, it is a shocking first impression for new arrivals. Maybe stop building flash duty free shops (which remain mostly empty) and invest in baggage handling and passenger movement areas.

I'll never criticise LAX again - by comparison it's a dream arrival compared to MEL.

Pathetic!

[compressor stall]

Welcome to privatisation. No commercial return in baggage carousels. Disgraceful.

And don't let me start ranting on the state of Taxiway A down towards W.

[Capt Fathom]

Arrived into Melbourne yesterday morning to an absolute shambles in the terminal.

the old days at LAX seem like a pleasant and efficient process.



I have never experienced LAX as a pleasant and efficient process.

[Global Aviator]

The problem is it is hit and miss. All as pax, last arrival into MEL a breeze, the one before a cluster.

LAX last week the line for immigration was savage, asked why and told they were understaffed. Mentioned worried about a connection no worries sir come with me and through the crew lane. How would that go down in Aus?

There are places I travel that I actually pick my arrival time as it’s generally a quieter time (no it doesn’t always work).

Leaving AUS from MEL & BNE has been very easy of late, oh yes the brilliant duty free options.

As many say, first impressions count. A cluster of an arrival experience to then get out into a $50-$150 taxi/uber fare.

[deja vu]

Just lucky you were not relying on the rail link, promised nearly 50 years ago, to get home.

Yeah, Melbourne doesn't need a new runway as much as it needs a new terminal.
Oh, and where else in the world do you need to pay for a baggage trolley on departure.

[Martinflyer]

New terminal, train line, you name it and Melbourne doesn't have it

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

You do realize that the arrivals process is a government process and run and staffed by the various government agencies don't you? If you want a faster journey, contact your local member and get some agency staff in the places. Queues are because of choke points, and the choke points are because of the lack of government staff. So long as every arriving pax or crew has to have a face to face with an ABF officer, things won't change. Having said that, Brissie's not so bad. Generally about 40 mins from aircraft door to exiting Baggage Hall when things are busy.

[flightleader]

Yeah, Sunday morning is the worst in MEL. So many Asian widebodies arrive same time. CIQ not having extra manpower to deal with it. Luggages from 3 international flights come out on a single carousel. Passengers with bags of fresh curry leaves that quarantine officers need to identify before disposal.

SYD is the same story. Recently they installed some passport reading machine near an area just outside the gates. There was like 600 passengers from 2 flights being herded to scan their passport immediately as they stepped of the planes. So congested that the queue backed all the way back into the plane! Whereas the machines nearer to the duty free had no queue.

How could SYD be an international airport when airport security chase everyone out of the terminal building by midnight and nobody allowed inside until 3am? How inhumane during winter nights?