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Melbourne International Airport Tullamarine Airport
IATA: MEL – ICAO: YMML
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Australia Pacific Airports Corporation (Melbourne) - APAM
Serves		Melbourne
Location		Tullamarine
Elevation AMSL		434 ft / 132 m
Coordinates		37°40′24″S 144°50′36″E / -37.67333, 144.84333
Website		www.melair.com.au
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
09/27	2,286	7,500	Asphalt
16/34	3,657	11,998	Asphalt
Statistics (2006-2007)
Total Passengers			22,500,000[1]
Intl Passengers			4,500,000[1]
Total Movements			180,500
Domestic Movements			151,200

Melbourne Airport (also known as Tullamarine Airport) (IATA: MEL, ICAO: YMML) is 20 kms to the northwest of Melbourne's CBD, and is adjacent to the suburb of Tullamarine, Victoria, Australia. The airport has its own suburb boundaries with the area officially named Melbourne Airport and the postcode 3045.

Contents 1 History 2 Today 2.1 New Services for Northern Winter 2007/2008 2.2 Recent improvements 2.3 Airport Rail Link 2.4 Public transport 3 Future 4 Users of Melbourne Airport 4.1 Airlines 4.2 International (T2) 4.3 Qantas Domestic Terminal (T1) 4.4 Southern Domestic Terminal (T3) 4.5 Terminal Four (T4) 4.6 Cargo Airlines 5 Accidents and Incidents 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

The airport was built to replace the nearby, outdated Essendon Airport, which did not have runways or terminals able to accommodate large aircraft such as the Boeing 747 which was due to enter service in the early 1970s. The airport opened on 1 July 1970. Melbourne airport was originally called "Tullamarine Airport" and locals still commonly refer to it by that name or simply as 'Tulla'.

A number of Australian airports were privatised in 1997 including Melbourne Airport, which was leased to the Australia Pacific Airports Corporation, a company largely owned by a group of infrastructure investment funds, for 50 years. Significant refurbishment of the rather dated terminals has been undertaken since privatisation and the airport now boasts a wide array of shops and food outlets. Popular food outlets include Burger King, Krispy Kreme, Boost Juice and Hudsons Coffee.

Melbourne Airport has four terminals. The international terminal T2 has 16 gates (gates 12-16 are 'standoff' (or non-airbridge) gates). There are three domestic terminals:

• T1 used exclusively by Qantas and its Jetstar and QantasLink subsidiaries;
• the multi-user T3 primarily used by Virgin Blue and REX; and
• the low-cost T4 used by Tiger Airways Australia.

The terminals have 46 gates between them. In the 2006-07 financial year over 22 million passengers used the airport.

Melbourne Airport passenger numbers have hit a record high, with the airport recording more than 20 million passengers in 2005. However recently numbers have been declining as a result of airlines leaving and existing airlines cutting capacity. Melbourne international passenger numbers were down 2% in the final quarter of 2006. ^[2] Despite this, overall figures for the year until June 2007 showed that numbers improved, the airport receiving 22.5 million passengers, 4.5 million of those arriving from overseas.^[1] There were 180,500 aircraft movements, the vast majority (151,200) being domestic passenger services. Melbourne Airport is currently the second busiest airport in Australia after Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney. The airport is curfew-free and operates 24 hours a day, although in practice there are few aircraft movements between 2 a.m and 4 a.m, except freight aircraft.

• Norfolk Island's Norfolk Air commenced a once-weekly Norfolk Island - Sydney - Melbourne - Norfolk Island service in October.
• Philippine Airlines increased Melbourne flights for the peak season with an additional two weekly flights, routed via Sydney, providing Melbourne with five weekly flights to Manila.
• Skywest introduced a thrice-weekly Perth - Kalgoorlie - Melbourne service from November.
• Jetstar commenced daily A320 flights between Tullamarine and Perth from November.
• Tiger Airways Australia began its operations from Tullamarine to destinations in around Australia from November.
• Air China de-linked Melbourne from Sydney, offering non-stop services on both the Beijing-Shanghai-Melbourne-Shanghai-Beijing routes, operating 3 times per week.^[3]
• Qantas will begin a twice weekly flight between Melbourne and Shanghai from early 2008.
• China Southern Airlines now operates two additional direct services from Melbourne to Guangzhou for the peak season.^[4]
• Jetstar will increase frequencies from Melbourne to Cairns, Sunshine Coast and Hobart from 18 March 2008. ^[5]
• Qantas will add 3 additional flights to Hong Kong from April 1, 2008. These new flights will be operated by an A330-300 and will complement the current daily 747-400 service. Qantas will eventually go to twice daily on the Melbourne-Hong Kong route.^[6]

Recent works have been undertaken to prepare the airport for the late 2007 arrival of the double-deck Airbus A380, which has been purchased by a number of airlines using the airport including Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Thai, China Southern Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Emirates. Improvements include construction of dual airbridges (Gates 9 and 11) with the ability to board both decks simultaneously to reduce turnaround times, the extension of the international terminal building by 20 metres to include new penthouse airline lounges, an expansion to the short-term carpark, a second exit off the Tullamarine Freeway to reduce congestion on Airport Drive, the widening of the north/south runway by 15 metres and the widening of remote stands and taxiways. Along with the construction of an additional extra large baggage carousel in the international arrivals hall. All this work has made the airport the first A380-capable airport in Australia. ^[7]

In 2001 the state government investigated the construction of a heavy rail link to Melbourne Airport. Two options were considered, one branching off the Craigieburn suburban line to the east, and another branching off the Albion goods line, which passes close to the airport's boundary to the south, with the latter being the preferred option. Market research found that most passengers preferred travel by taxi or private car to the airport. Poor patronage of similar links in Sydney and Brisbane also cast doubt on the viability of the project. This led to the project being deferred for at least ten years. ^[8]

The existing Skybus service was improved to compensate and remains the only available public transport service to the airport direct from the Melbourne CBD, the trip taking approximately 20 minutes from Southern Cross Station. A local daily bus service run by Tullamarine Bus Lines operates Route 478 between Moonee Ponds Junction and Melbourne Airport.

Despite recent attempts by the airport's management to promote new services to Melbourne and persuade the Australian government to approve a number of foreign airlines to either start or increase services, many airlines have ceased flights to Melbourne. Austrian Airlines was the last European carrier to serve the city, ending flights in March 2007. ^[9]

The airport's management has warned that Melbourne faces a "capacity crunch" if no action is taken in the near future.^[10] However in March 2007, after talks between the Qatar and Australian governments, the Australian government has approved Qatar Airways request to commence their planned daily service into Australia, with Melbourne planned as a likely destination. ^[11]

Melbourne Airport has been selected as the Australian base of Tiger Airways Australia, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Tiger Airways. The airline will be operating out of the reconstructed Terminal Four which will provide travellers with basic retail and other facilities. ^[12] Tiger's domestic flights began on 23 November 2007. ^[13]

A $330 million expansion program for T2 was announced in 2007. The objectives of this project include new lounges and retail facilities, a new satellite terminal, increased luggage capacity and a redesign of outbound passenger customs and security areas. A new satellite terminal will feature floor to ceiling windows offering views of the north-south runway. The new concourse will include three double-decker aerobridges each accommodating an A380 aircraft or two smaller aircraft. Capacity for baggage handling will also be increased and two new baggage belts in the arrivals hall will cater for additional A380 traffic. Work is scheduled to begin in November 2007 and be complete by 2012. ^[14]

Although described as a satellite terminal, it is really an extension of the current international terminal building connected by an above-ground corridor access. Diagrams of the proposed new extension however indicate that departures will take place on the lower deck (similar to the A380 boarding lounges currently in use at gates 9 and 11) with arrivals streamed on to the first floor to connect with the current first floor arrivals deck. Passengers departing from gates in the new extension will therefore have to drop down into their gate lounges once they reach their assigned gate.

The following airlines operate services to Melbourne Airport in their own right. Many others operate services as codeshares.^[15]

• Air China (Beijing, Shanghai-Pudong)
• Air Mauritius (Port Louis)
• Air New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin [seasonal; begins April 1, 2008], Los Angeles ^[16], Queenstown ^[17], Rarotonga^[18], Wellington)
  • Freedom Air (Dunedin [until 31 March, 2008])
• Air Pacific (Nadi)
• Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
• China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)
• China Southern Airlines (Guangzhou)
• Emirates (Auckland, Dubai, Singapore)
• Garuda Indonesia (Denpasar/Bali)
• Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
• Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
• Norfolk Air (Norfolk Island)^[19]
• Philippine Airlines (Manila)
• Qantas (International) (Auckland, Cairns, Hong Kong, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Queenstown [seasonal], San Francisco, Sapporo-Chitose [seasonal], Shanghai-Pudong [begins March 11, 2008] ^[20], Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo-Narita, Vancouver (seasonal) [ends 27 January, 2008], Wellington)
  • Jetstar Airways ( Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Christchurch, Denpasar/Bali, Honolulu ^[21], Sydney)
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
• Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
• United Airlines (Los Angeles)
• Vietnam Airlines (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City)
• Virgin Blue
  • Pacific Blue (Christchurch)

• Qantas (Adelaide, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Brisbane, Broome, Cairns, Canberra, Hobart, Perth, Sydney)
  • QantasLink (Canberra, Devonport, Launceston, Mt Hotham (seasonal), Newcastle, Mildura, Wollongong)
  • Jetstar Airways (Ballina/Byron, Cairns, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Launceston, Newcastle, Perth, Sunshine Coast, Townsville)

• Regional Express (Albury, Burnie, King Island, Griffith, Merimbula, Mildura, Mt. Gambier, Wagga Wagga)
• Skywest Airlines (Kalgoorlie ^[22], Perth ^[23])
• Virgin Blue (Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Coffs Coast, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hobart, Newcastle, Launceston, Perth, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Whitsunday Coast)

• Tiger Airways Australia (Adelaide [starts January 10, 2008], Alice Springs [starts March 1, 2008], Canberra [starts February 14, 2008], Darwin, Gold Coast, Hobart [starts January 15, 2008], Launceston, Mackay, Newcastle [starts January 18, 2008], Perth, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast)

• Atlas Air (Chicago-O'Hare, Frankfurt-Hahn, New York-JFK, Shanghai-Pudong, Sydney)
• Australian Air Express (Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Perth, Sydney)
• Cargolux (Hong Kong, Luxembourg)
• Cathay Pacific Cargo (Hong Kong, Sydney)
• MASkargo (Kuala Lumpur)
• Singapore Airlines Cargo (Singapore, Adelaide)
• Toll Priority (Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Launceston, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin)

In May 2003, Qantas Flight 1737 took off from Melbourne Airport en route to Launceston and it was hijacked shortly after. The flight attendants and passengers managed to subdue and restrain the hijacker, and the plane landed safely at Melbourne.

• List of airports in Australia
• Transport in Australia

• Melbourne Airport website
• Flight Information
• Skybus website

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