‘Delays, delays, delays’: Airports, airlines brace for Easter travel chaos

Victorians planning to fly interstate over the Easter break have been warned to expect a blow-out in airport delays and wait times, particularly with Qantas, as huge passenger volumes clash with a shortage of baggage handlers.

Melbourne Airport, under pressure from travellers flocking to see the Grand Prix race this weekend, is operating at 107 per cent capacity compared to April 2019 and is warning passengers to arrive two hours ahead of departure.

“[Friday was] the busiest day at Melbourne Airport in more than two years,” a spokesperson said. “We expect a number of similar days over the coming few weeks.”

Processing times will be even longer than usual, with lengthy queues expected for check-in and security.

For Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia, this Easter weekend will be the busiest since before the pandemic. The airlines will fly tens of thousands of guests over this period.

Virgin Australia issued a similar warning about lengthy wait times. “The sudden increase in travellers and workforce challenges related to the pandemic will likely lead to travellers experiencing longer than usual queues,” it said.

“Follow the advice of airports and arrive two hours ahead of scheduled departure, and use online check-in.”

Delays at Qantas are expected to be longer than that of other airlines, according to Mem Suleyman, assistant branch secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) Victoria/Tasmania.

In late 2020, Qantas sacked 2,000 ground crew workers, including baggage handlers, aircraft towing crews, cleaners and more, and announced it would replace all of them with outsourced contractors. But the Federal Court later ruled the move as unlawful and Qantas is now facing a fine.