Melbourne Airport swarmed ahead of school holidays starting Friday evening

Airlines are struggling to cope as crowds of school holiday jetsetters flood into Melbourne Airport, with queues already out the door.

Eager travellers are crowding Melbourne airport once again as airlines prepare for their busiest period since Covid with school holidays starting in Victoria on Friday.

Melbourne Airport is preparing for more than 2.1 million passengers over the school holidays, which is around 400,000 more people than from over the Easter holidays.

Lines were out the door at Melbourne Airport just after 6am on Friday, with the airport chaplain even getting involved with baggage to help ease the strain on staff.

However, by 8am the queues were dwindling away as savvy travellers heeded advice to arrive at departure terminals early.

Passengers at Tullamarine have been warned to arrive one to two hours early for a domestic flight and two to three for international travel.

Passengers are being warned to arrive one to two hours early for a domestic flight and two to three for international travel. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Tim and Lisa Vettori and their children are planning to spend the school holidays in Cairns. Picture: Brendan Beckett

The Vettori family are bound to Cairns for a family holiday and made sure they arrived at the Virgin terminal with plenty of time to spare.

“We heard it would be busy so we thought it would be good to get here early,” said Lisa Vettori.

“School holidays starts today so that’s life,” said her husband Tim.

The Marahatta family are heading to the USA by way of Sydney.

They too were prepared for queues.

“Everyone’s rushing to go overseas, or even travelling interstate, after the pandemic,” said father of two Basu.

Basu Marahatta with his wife and children at the Virgin terminal at Melbourne Airport. Picture: Brendan Beckett

People pack out the international terminal at Melbourne Airport as school holidays begin. Picture: Brendan Beckett

Melbourne Airport chief executive Lorie Argus said passengers should take precautions to avoid any stress, with international traveller numbers up by 77 per cent.

“We encourage people to allow time to get to the airport, check in and go through security, as there may be queues, particularly at peak travel times,” she said.

“Equally, we’d ask people don’t arrive too early, because some airlines don’t open check-in until two hours before a domestic departure and three hours prior to an international flight.

“The aviation industry is still working to rebuild our workforce following the pandemic, and staffing remains an issue for some operators, particularly in baggage and ground handling.

“During this busy period, we ask people to be respectful of one another and our staff as we work to get you where you need to be as quickly and safely as possible.”