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Drivers have only one month left to use the current drop-off and pick-up areas at Melbourne Airport as it presses ahead with its controversial plans to scrap the arrival and departure ramps as part of the airport’s expansion.
Kerbside pick-up and drop-off for terminals 1, 2 and 3 will end on October 6, and cars will need to use a new pick-up and drop-off zone inside the airport’s undercover car park.
Passengers have expressed concerns that the changes will make it harder to access the airport, but Melbourne Airport says they will enable it to expand the international terminal.
It’s the last call for the 56-year-old departures ramp, while the arrivals ramp will be shut to all cars except for taxis and ride-share services such as Uber.
The changes mean that from October 6 anyone heading to pick someone up or drop them off for any airline will need to leave the Tullamarine Freeway earlier, at Exit 19 for Naarm Way, to use the elevated roadway to access all terminals.
The $500 million project will direct people to the new pick-up and drop-off zone in the short-term car park, which has more than 100 undercover car parks and allows accesses to the terminals via a pedestrian walkway.
Drivers will get one minute to drop off and five minutes to pick up. Anyone needing more time will be redirected into the short-term carpark.
The first 15 minutes in the car park are free, then standard rates apply, or Melbourne Airport is directing drivers to the free 60-minute waiting zone off Mercer Drive and Airport Drive.
Passengers will have to walk between 172 and 350 metres for terminal access from the drop-off zone and between 285 and 380 metres to the pick-up zone, depending on the terminal.
At the airport, reactions were mixed to news of the impending changes to arrivals and departures. Melburnians Roland Gunesekere and Angela Jansen raised concerns.
Gunesekere said he did not see any wheelchair assistance staff when he arrived at the airport for their flight to Sri Lanka.
“From the parking when we were departing, in the car park it was a pretty long walk all the way to departure,” Gunesekere said.
“I was exhausted,” Jansen said.
“Especially if you’re elderly,” Gunesekere said, “it’s a bit tiring.”
He said he wanted the train link to the airport expedited, which “would be great because that would help a lot of people with connectivity”.
Ulli Fiehn, who had just flown in from New Zealand, said she supported the changes to the airport’s arrivals and departures.
Fiehn is a frequent flyer because her daughter lives in Melbourne, and was waiting for her son-in-law to pick her up.
“It’s a matter of just being organised and just accepting the fact there’s a lot of flights,” she said. “The airport is just not equipped for all these arrivals, and whatever they need to do they just have to do that.”
Fiehn said she saw the same issues around the world.
“I’ve just come from Europe and same problems there,” she said. “They’re expanding, they’re getting bigger. You may have to walk a little bit further, but as long as they make it safe I think that’s the main thing – and accessible.”
More than 100,000 people use Melbourne Airport every day and annual passenger numbers
are predicted to reach 75 million by 2047.
Melbourne Airport chief executive Lorie Argus said the new facilities would reduce congestion and make way for $4.5 billion in development at the airport.
“This is an exciting change, but it’s also a big change and we know it will take people time to get
used to it, so we’ll have plenty of staff on hand to help support drivers and passengers,” she said.
“The new pick-up and drop-off zones will separate private and commercial vehicles, provide drivers
with more space and give our passengers comfortable places to wait away from Melbourne’s
unpredictable weather.”
Travellers in wheelchairs or who have mobility issues will have to use the same pick-up and drop-off zones but can use the Melbourne Airport assist program for free transfers in buggies or powered wheelchairs between 6am and 10pm.
The new drop-off zone will also be used by taxis and ride-share providers, while taxi and ride-share pick-up will remain in the airport’s forecourt.
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