Melbourne Airport seek more workers after Christmas travel boom

Air travel is booming post pandemic, and Melbourne Airport is looking to fill thousands of positions as travellers take to the skies in huge numbers.

Up to 2000 jobs are up for grabs at Melbourne Airport, as travellers take to the skies in huge numbers after the pandemic.

The airport saw strong numbers of travellers come through the doors across the recent festive season as passengers took advantage of the most relaxed travel rules since the start of the Covid pandemic.

With the boost in numbers, the airport is now facing a challenge to increase its workforce to deal with the demand.

Melbourne Airport chief executive Lorie Argus said there were almost 2000 jobs to be filled.

“These flights are huge employment generators both at Melbourne Airport and in the wider Victorian economy,” she said.

“Since the international border reopened, more than 4000 people have been hired at Melbourne Airport and there are still close to 2000 jobs that need filling across the airline, ground handling and retail operations.”

With new stores being added recently, it is understood almost 500 retail jobs are available while recruitment firm Adecco has been advertising for 40 baggage handlers at the airport.

Baggage handlers are in demand at Melbourne Airport. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jenny Evans

Some of the airport’s main baggage handlers, including Swissport and Dnata, are also advertising for more baggage handlers.

It comes after reports of cash incentives being offered to baggage handlers in an attempt to boost their numbers. Menzies Aviation confirmed they had received around 400 applications for recent job postings as they look to build their numbers.

Melbourne Airport’s online site shows they are looking for 19 internal positions including asset management and program directors.

International travellers were a key part of Melbourne’s increase in activity over the festive period in December. International passengers grew by over 400 per cent compared to December 2021 while domestic passengers were up 91 per cent in the same period.

It continued a strong period of travel for the airport with international and domestic passengers, excluding transits, up 606 per cent in the current financial year compared to the 2021-22 period.

Staff at Melbourne Airport are expecting those levels to become common as travel resumes and airlines return to their pre-Covid levels.

“Demand for international flights keeps growing and last month we saw incredibly high load factors on flights departing Melbourne,” Ms Argus said.

“We’re expecting further capacity increases in the coming months as Chinese carriers resume flights to Melbourne, VietJet launches direct services to Ho Chi Minh City and Qantas returns to Hong Kong.”