Australian Airports Are a Joke

NotAnAudiophile on 10/03/2018 - 09:44
Last edited 13/03/2018 - 07:11

Fresh from the technical issue meltdown at Sydney airport yesterday, why are our airports such a joke? No seating except at the gates, pitiful food options, no relaxation of any sort, and horrendous public access that cost a bomb.

Everytime i head to 1 of our airports, its to get out fast, unlike asian airports like Singapore or HK, where being in the airport is a pleasurable experience and actually makes me WANT to get their early to enjoy it!

EDIT : I am setting at Qantas domestic in Melb and it is DIRE. It looks like an old American airport straight from the 70s! Drab walls, corridors with just nothing, no facilities, its basically a holding pen.

Travel

Comments

    • serpserpserp on 13/03/2018 - 21:25

      Not when it'll cost $20 each way per person.

  • Lancerx on 12/03/2018 - 23:27
    +1

    Mainly because no one really spend a lot of transit time in aus airport, unlike Singapore, hk, or other Asian airports with major connectiona to us or Europe

  • Seraphin7 on 13/03/2018 - 09:36

    I am setting at Qantas domestic in Melb and it is DIRE

    I couldn't agree with you more!

    I'm in that terminal pretty frequently and it is simply awful. The wing out to gates 1 - 11 (or whatever it is on that side) is just hideous. I can't even imagine what was going through the designer's mind. The other wing is marginally better, but only because it's a bit more modern. Give it another 10 years and it will be just as bad.

    • Poolprouk on 13/03/2018 - 13:15

      Qantas are due to hand back that terminal to the airport at the end of this year as their lease is up (held since privatisation). Hence why they've probably not invested much in improving it. The movement of Jetstar to T4 obviously had a big impact on pax numbers which I guess has resulted in some of the shops that are there struggling.

      Once it gets handed back to the airport to manage I would hope that things will improve.

      • Seraphin7 on 13/03/2018 - 13:56

        Interesting. It's hard to imagine how it could get much worse. Any ideas what's happening when the lease is up? Surely Qantas won't be moving to another terminal?

        • Poolprouk on 13/03/2018 - 17:15

          It will revert to being managed by the airport, I guess Qantas will then agree to some kind of sole use terminal agreement a bit like the Virgin terminal in T3 (which is managed by the airport). Come what may, Qantas will still be in T1 but the airport will look for ways to improve it no doubt.

  • PAPower on 13/03/2018 - 13:36

    An international airport is the first place that foreigners see, feel and have an impression of a nation. As a foreigner 9 years ago, my impression of Australia was confusion. This nation had no history or culture to show foreigners at the airport. Department of Tourism / Heritage must have been overshadowed by Department of Immigration.

  • DarthAntz on 13/03/2018 - 14:09

    heading home and I will be going through Gold Coast airport at the end of this month. we will be prepared though, to spend as little time as possible going through. Toilets at arrival can be smelt/felt from the security gates. I do love watching Japanese exclaim '高い！' at alcohol prices in duty free, and Americans laughing at the price of Jack Daniels and Jim Beam.

    There's no way I'd spend money or time in an Australian airport. Just be prepared. Theyre not bargain places and shouldnt be discussed on this site.

  • madmo on 13/03/2018 - 15:07
    +1

    Arriving Melbourne airport always enrages me. The immigration queue is horrendously long and many occasions, Immi officers will move the tourists to the Aussie queue to manage this. What annoys me most is that even when they do this, there are several empty Immi counters during peak arrival hours. In most countries I have visited, peak hour arrivals are managed as efficiently as possible - all the Immigration counters are manned.

    I guess even if we do pass immigration as quick as possible, the other inefficiency we face is the extremely slow arrival of our luggages.

    Even though I understand and agree that custom declaration checks are important, the fact that travelers especially tourists would have to go through the above two inefficiencies and face another sometimes slow custom declaration control point would just further frustrate them.

    That said, I have also observed how rude and condescending customs officers are to tourists (especially those with limited English) at the TRS queue. Granted the officers have to face a deluge of non-English speakers not understanding the process but to take out their frustrations on silly or old tourists is not something I agree with.

  • leznix on 13/03/2018 - 15:36

    My main grief for Aussie airport is long wait time for the luggage to appear on the belt.

    Once I had to wait 45 minutes before I managed to collect my bag in the Melbourne Airport. It got really crowded when flights kept arriving while everyone was still waiting for their stuff.

    I have a friend who used to work as operations in Changi Airport. He told me "first bag on belt at 12 minutes" was the expected standard from the ground handling crew.

    • serpserpserp on 13/03/2018 - 21:24

      Once. How many times have you flown?

  • VBO on 13/03/2018 - 20:02

    Please tell us something we don't know already.

  • dsp26 on 13/03/2018 - 20:08
    +1

    Sydney <> Australia. Brisbane is fine and so is Melbourne generally.

    Anything Sydney in general is a lifestyle choice

  • serpserpserp on 13/03/2018 - 21:23
    -1

    TLDR: Who finds any airports relaxing? I literally dislike every airport I've been to and I've been to a few…

    • DingoBilly on 14/03/2018 - 10:53

      I genuinely look forward to airports myself and try to go early (like 5 hours before flight) so I can enjoy the lounge.

  • derrko on 14/03/2018 - 08:53

    For one reason or another at Cairns International they have decided in there wisdow to cue all countries with chipped passports together in the same lane with 3 smart gates(yes 3 smart gates) 3 early morning flights arrivals caused a wait time of 45 minutes just to even get to the smart gate. So if you won't 1 of the country's on the list for smart gate then u got manually processed and got through faster. Ridiculous. Welcome to Australia!!!

  • youknow on 14/03/2018 - 11:09

    Worth a watch… not 100% relevant but the overarching message is absolutely relevant. If you're time poor, skip to 2 minute mark, but worth watching the whole thing.

  • jamesblake2908 on 14/03/2018 - 12:21

    Australia doesn't have airports. We have shopping malls that incidentally process international travellers as a secondary source of income

  • The Almighty Dollar on 14/03/2018 - 22:03

    Compare Australia and Japan. Japan’s economy is heavily reliant on services and they have the best possible service in every area I can think of because they want you to use their service again. The attitude in Australia has for so long been “you don’t have a choice so cop what we give you” all the while charging exorbitant prices because they can. This has lead to expectations in Japan that things will just work and the opposite here. In the rare case a train or bus is late, letters are issued to your employer, even a few minutes. In Brisbane you’re lucky if your bus turns up at all.

    No doubt these differences also have other factors behind them. Hopefully our airports and other services improve as population and competition increases. Adapt or they’ll go under eventually (eg Myer).

    • NotAnAudiophile on 15/03/2018 - 07:52
      +1

      Good point. If Australian retail had competition like that in Asia many of them would have gone under a long time ago.

  • imahapyboy on 15/03/2018 - 09:46

    you sure only airport?

  • dane45 on 15/03/2018 - 15:26

    I've experienced the international terminals at Melbourne and Sydney and the domestic terminals of most of the capital cities. I don't think they're the most horrible places in the world, but am I the only one who wishes there was a little more to do? For an international flight I'll always arrive when check-in opens (3 hours before) and I often book domestic flights late on a Sunday night, but end up going to the airport early with time to kill.

    I'd happily pay a premium charge to do something other than sit in a food court or browse though a hideously overpriced shop, like maybe a movie theatre or gym like at Changi? Even if I'm not spending 6+ hours in transit, 3 hours can be a lot of time to kill when the only thing to do is eat maccas and drink $15 beers. That said, it might be a strategy of Australian airports to keep the terminal as boring as possible - it means everyone will be waiting at the gate desperate to get on the plane when it's time to board.

  • tanastra on 20/03/2018 - 18:30

    Wow I thought Perth airport is the worst so far … or maybe it is still :(
    It’s always so depressing coming back thru Perth airport after going thru Changi airport …

  • smartyhaha on 20/03/2018 - 19:02

    You cannot compare to those busiest airport in the center of the world because of the passenger and flight traffic.

  • billy12345 on 02/05/2018 - 09:45

    I will never understand Australian Gov.. at least in Sydney no proper roads even toll roads with 2 lines trust me when you travel to other countries roads with 6 lines are free and plenty of options of highway to go just one direction. trains are suck over all transport is bad. Aus Gov loves contractors companies they just want them to do everything and then take money from public. I get so pissed bcoz all our money goes to us some local Aussies they don't want to work. apart from that where does the Gov spend tax money ?

  • branners on 03/05/2018 - 07:04

    Since we are airing greivances on Australian airports — and I agree with many of them — here is mine.
    Why is it that most of the major airports have service stations on the 'exit' side of the return road?
    I have rented cars in most cities and that drives me mad. If you want to fill up before you return the vehicle — and if you don't it gets expensive — the closest servo is nearly always on the right and you have to do a U-turn.
    That's the case in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and don't get me started on Sydney.

  • myusername on 03/05/2018 - 09:29

    what do you expect from it's an aust airport.

    the best part about any aust international airport is leaving the country

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