iscover
Melbourne Airport is set to open new pick up and drop off zones in October, with construction and trials coming to a close.
The $500 million project will see commercial vehicles, taxis, and ride-shares separate from private, family cars. Melbourne says that this will create far less congestion and traffic in one of the busiest sections of the airport.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
The zone will include express ramps to the main Tullamarine Freeway.
“This project will mean fewer traffic jams and make more room for hellos and goodbyes, while also unlocking the ability for us to expand the international terminal into the forecourt,” said Melbourne Airport CEO, Lorie Argus.
“Our current road network simply doesn’t have capacity to cope with our forecast passenger growth, with traffic modelling showing that without this project, passengers would be waiting an additional 28 minutes in peak periods by 2029.”
Within the T123 Transport Hub, the pickup and drop off zone will be used by Qantas and Virgin customers, as well as all international flight passengers.
The new road network zones will additionally support the development of Melbourne’s international terminal as a part of a $4.5 billion expansion project.
“The October opening is timed to avoid the busy school holiday and footy finals period and will give travellers a couple of months to adjust to the changes before the Christmas peak,” Argus added.
“We know this is a big change for our passengers, which is exactly why we’re running live trials now, well ahead of opening day, to make sure the hub and the road network feeding into it work exactly as they should before passengers start using them.”
The transport hub is currently being tested on its efficiency and accessibility features to ensure those with diverse needs can utilise this new area of the airport.
“The testing phase is about learning and adapting and our accessibility live trials provided us with invaluable insight from people with various lived experiences that will help us tailor our services for their needs.”
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Australian Aviation a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Australian Aviation as a preferred news source.
