Travellers flying in and out of Melbourne will face a very different curb-side experience from Sunday 6 October, when the airport opens new pick-up and drop-off zones for Terminals 1, 2 and 3 inside its T123 Transport Hub on Naarm Way. According to a 25 September travel update issued by Qantas, all commercial vehicles—including taxis and rideshare cars—will move to Level 3 of the new hub, while private vehicles will have a dedicated lane on Level 2. The change is the largest road-network modification at the airport since it opened in 1970 and is designed to relieve chronic congestion that has increasingly delayed passengers during the morning and evening peaks. The hub provides more than 70 parking bays, covered walkways directly into the terminals and digital way-finding screens that display real-time flight information. A free 60-minute wait zone off Mercer Drive will remain available for drivers who arrive early. Melbourne Airport says the redesign is part of a wider A$500 million landside upgrade that will eventually include elevated roadways and expanded terminal forecourts. For corporate mobility managers the change means refreshing ground-transport instructions in employee travel portals, updating airport transfer contracts and advising frequent flyers to factor in a few extra minutes until traffic patterns stabilise. Chauffeur companies have already begun re-routing their GPS dispatch systems, while several global distribution systems (GDS) have pushed advisories to travel-agent screens. With Melbourne back to 98 per cent of pre-pandemic passenger volumes and domestic business travel demand growing at double-digit rates, smoother kerbside flows will be critical in the run-up to the busy Christmas period. The airport says it will deploy extra way-finders during the first week and urges passengers to follow electronic signage and airline SMS alerts.
Source: Qantas Travel Updates
