Pics show insane queues at nations airports ahead of long weekend

Airport queues blew out on Friday ahead of the long weekend with one airport expecting to experience its busiest day since Covid.

Aussie airports were packed with travellers on Friday as many tried to escape for the long weekend.

Passengers leaving from Melbourne and Sydney airports were told to arrive early and give themselves plenty of time, with some airlines experiencing long lines for check in.

In Melbourne, travellers were told to arrive one to two hours before departure for domestic flights and two to three hours before an international departure.

Sydney travellers were told to arrive as close to two hours before a domestic flight as possible and as close to three hours for those heading overseas.

Melbourne Airport was looking to see its biggest day since Covid with 95,000 passengers expected through the door.

An estimated 80,000 domestic passengers were expected to pass through Sydney Airport with over 700 inbound and outbound flights throughout the day.

Some airlines saw significant delays at Sydney’s T2 domestic airport terminal on Friday morning. Picture John Grainger

Lines at both airports were reported to be mostly moving smoothly with all security lanes open.

“We’ve got a lot of people down here this morning managing the queues, bringing people forward in order of flight priority,” a spokesperson for Sydney Airport said.

“People have been amazingly patients, treating each other with respect it’s been fantastic to see and I think everyone’s just happy to be travelling again and getting away for a long weekend.”

Travellers were told to arrive two hours before departure for domestic flights and three hours before an international departure. Picture John Grainger

A spokesperson for Melbourne Airport said Fridays were generally one of the busiest days for travel, compounded by the long weekends.

Last Easter Good Friday the Airport saw 90,000 passengers pass through its doors causing lengthy delays.

As air travel returns to normal both airports are advertising thousands of jobs to make sure they can keep up with demand.

Sydney Airport announced this week it had 5000 job vacancies across 800 organisations.

“15,000 jobs were lost at the airport during the pandemic and even though everyone started recruiting heavily when borders looked like opening, we’ve still got 5000 roles to fill,” Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbert said.

“Our security contractor and ground handlers have been advertising jobs since December and have brought 500 staff on board since the start of the year, but they have another 1200 roles to go which is incredibly challenging in this market.”