Hannah Hammoud
Melbourne Airport will have all hands on deck to manage the holiday rush as they expect more than 2.1 million passengers to pass through the airport between April 5 to 25.
These passenger numbers represent 95 per cent of the passengers who passed through in 2019 over the same 21-day period, and is 30 per cent higher than last year’s Easter period.
The holiday rush follows on from a busy Grand Prix weekend, with preliminary data indicating more than 375,000 people travelled through the airport across the four days of the race.
Melbourne Airport chief of aviation Jim Parashos said that the airport is well equipped to handle expected passenger volumes, with planning efforts underway for months ahead of the holiday period.
“One of our biggest challenges has been baggage handling, and companies have filled around 1,000 roles over the past few months, so we don’t expect to have significant issues over the holidays,” he said.
Mr Parashos said that Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are proving to be the busiest travel days throughout the holiday period, and is encouraging travellers to prepare as best they can.
“Travellers should plan to arrive one to two hours before a domestic flight and two to three hours before an international flight, but not earlier than that as some airlines don’t open check-in and will be managing large passenger volumes, so we want to avoid passengers waiting unnecessarily,” he said.
“Our car parks will be busy, so we encourage people to book online as far in advance as possible and allow extra time to find a car space.”
The airport will be spreading the Easter spirit with activities to keep the kids entertained, prizes to be won and the chance to take pictures with the Easter Bunny.
“The Airservices Australia Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting Service will also be raising money for the Good Friday Appeal, so stop by to get a sausage or a hot cross bun and support a great cause,” Mr Parashos said.
