Warning for Melbourne and Sydney Airports over Easter school holidays

Massive numbers of travellers will pass through Australia’s largest airports over the next few weeks – with warnings amid major upgrade works.

Thursday, April 17 will be the busiest day to travel through Australia’s largest airports — Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane — these school holidays.

See the huge number of travellers expected at our major airports below, and what they are doing to cope.

Sydney Airport

Sydney Airport forecasts 2.5 million passengers will travel through its terminals from Wednesday, April 9 to Tuesday, April 29 — with the busiest Easter school holiday period since 2019 at its international terminal.

The international terminal will see one million passengers, an increase of 9 per cent on last year, while the domestic terminals expect 1.5 million passengers, up three per cent.

“We’re gearing up for our busiest April school holidays in six years and have boosted our staffing to assist the hundreds of thousands of passengers taking a break over Easter,” Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton said.

He urged travellers to check-in online, pre-book parking and allow plenty of time to get to the airport.

“Over the past six months, we’ve achieved a 99 per cent success rate in getting passengers through security in under 10 minutes, and we’re committed to maintaining that efficiency during the holidays,” Mr Charlton said.

Sydney Airport is expecting its busiest Easter period for international travel in six years. Picture: Greg Fonne / Sydney Airport

However, due to upgrades, Aussies should know that protocols vary across terminals. In Terminal 1 (international) and Terminal 3 (domestic) laptops and aerosols are not required to be removed from hand luggage, but in Terminal 2 (domestic) they are.

The massive redevelopment of Terminal 2 kicks off in May, but some changes will be made earlier.

Rex Airlines and Fly Pelican passengers will depart from Terminal 3 from April 8 and Jetstar check-in will also be temporarily relocated by April 28 to share space with Virgin Australia.

Melbourne Airport

At Melbourne Airport, more than two million passengers are expected to pass through over the school holiday period from April 3 to April 21.

More than 1.3 million domestic passengers are expected, an increase of 4.3 per cent on last year, and 670,000 passengers through the international terminal, up 13.9 per cent.

And the busy travel period will not end when school returns. The number of people travelling between April 22 and April 28 is up 11 per cent on last year, as the Anzac Day public holiday falls on April 25.

Melbourne Airport’s Jai McDermott, who is chief of ground transport, property and retail, said there would be more cleaners, security and customer service staff over the busy travel period this month.

“With the Anzac Day public holiday falling in the week after school holidays we have seen a big jump in our passenger numbers as people combine the two long weekends into an extra week of holidays,” he said.

People should allow an extra 30 minutes to get to Melbourne Airport. Picture: David Crosling

He warned travellers to allow an extra 30 minutes to get to the airport and book any parking online in advance.

“We’ve recently opened a new baggage hall in Terminal 3 along with a new state-of-the-art security point in Terminal 1, but there are other significant upgrades taking place across the airport that will cause disruptions, so we thank our passengers for their patience,” Mr McDermott said.

Brisbane Airport

Brisbane Airport, which defines the holiday period as March 27 to April 29, is expecting 2.23 million passengers. That is up 9 per cent for domestic travel and 12 per cent for international travel compared to last year.

“Following the challenges of Cyclone Alfred and recent rain, the state’s tourism industry, which supports a quarter of a million Queenslanders, is looking forward to a solid Easter holiday period,” Brisbane Airport spokesman Peter Doherty said.

“Despite construction to transform our domestic and international terminals, we’re looking forward to welcoming visitors to Queensland who are chasing a dose of warmth and relaxation.”

Adelaide Airport

Meanwhile, Adelaide Airport is expecting its busiest week on record this week with almost 200,000 passengers.

More than 90 additional domestic flights have been scheduled in the lead up to the AFL Gather Round, which overlaps with the start of school holidays in South Australia.

Adelaide Airport managing director Brenton Cox said they also came just short of the busiest month on record.

“Our busiest days are forecast to be this Thursday and the following Monday, but we’re expecting to exceed 30,000 passengers per day over four of the five days during Gather Round,” Mr Cox said.