Holiday-makers put airlines and airports to the test

With more than half the country on school holidays, airlines and airports are bracing for another huge test of their post-Covid readiness.

Sydney Airport was expecting 120,000 people throughout its three terminals on Friday but was confident of keeping queuing times to an average of 30 minutes. Picture: NCA/Damian Shaw

With more than half the country on school holidays, airlines and airports are bracing for another huge test of their post-pandemic readiness.

Qantas and Jetstar expected to carry 350,000 people across the weekend, and Virgin Australia was also heavily booked as NSW, the ACT and Western Australia join Victoria and Queensland on holidays.

A Sydney Airport spokeswoman said they expected 120,000 people to pour through their terminals on Friday alone, including 88,000 domestic travellers.

In the morning peak, maximum wait times for security were 30 minutes, well down on the Easter nightmare which saw people queuing for two hours or more.

A Qantas Group statement said both airlines had put in place measures to improve their operations and were working with airports and suppliers to ensure customer disruptions were minimised.

Since April, more than 1000 additional staff had been recruited by Qantas and Jetstar, as well as hundreds of additional contact centre staff.

More people were on standby to cover for those who might fall ill, and several hundred corporate head office staff had made themselves available to help in baggage areas and check-in at Sydney and Melbourne airports, should they be required.

“We thank customers for their patience during what is traditionally a very busy time and thank our people for their hard work over these school holidays and beyond,” said the Qantas Group statement.

Domestic travellers are being asked to check in two hours ahead of scheduled departure time. Picture: NCA/Damian Shaw

“As holiday-makers prepare for their trips, Qantas and Jetstar are reminding travellers to check-in online and arrive at domestic airport around two hours ahead of their scheduled departure time.”

Many of those boarding flights in Sydney and Melbourne were heading to Cairns, Perth and the Gold and Sunshine coasts.

Internationally, London, Rome, the US, Bali and Queenstown were in the greatest demand from holiday seekers.

Qantas was looking to recover its reputation after a rough few months, with the airline recording the highest number of cancelled flights in May and the second worst on-time performance behind Jetstar.

Across Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar, more than 1800 flights were cancelled in the month or 7.1 per cent, well up on the long-term cancellation rate of 2 per cent.

Virgin Australia recorded a 5 per cent cancellation rate and slightly better on-time performance with 65.7 per cent of arrivals landing within 15 minutes of schedule and 64.4 per cent of departures getting away on time.

The country’s second biggest carrier continued to woo the business market, rolling out a new “winter menu” for travellers up the pointy end of its Boeing 737s.

Breakfast options included citrus French toast with maple syrup and waffles with banana butterscotch and crème anglaise.

The lunch and dinner menu featured gnocchi with creamy mushroom sauce and basil oil and truffle macaroni cheese with ratatouille.

Originally published as Holiday-makers put airlines and airports to the test