- Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane airports expected heavy passenger volumes.
- Brisbane forecast more than 1.8m travellers.
- Sydney Airport expected 2.67m passengers.
- Melbourne Airport prepared for its busiest day on 25 September.
- Travellers were advised to arrive 90 minutes early for domestic flights.
Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane airports have been expecting heavy passenger volumes during the upcoming school holidays and grand final period. Brisbane has forecast more than 1.8m travellers between mid September and mid October with a peak of over 84000 on one public holiday. Travellers have been advised to allow extra time and plan ahead for parking and security.
Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports braced forms of passengers as the spring school holidays directly clashed with the AFL and NRL Grand Final rushes. Over 6m total travellers were projected to move through these three major transport hubs over the following weeks. Sydney Airport expected 2.67m passengers between Monday, 21 September and Sunday, 11 October, with domestic traffic peaking on Friday, 2 October.
Melbourne Airport geared up for its busiest day on Friday, 25 September, the official AFL Grand Final Eve public holiday in Victoria. Brisbane Airport projected 1.86m passengers through 12 October, anticipating a record-breaking domestic rush driven by Brisbane Lions fans travelling south. Industrial fatigue and air traffic controller sick leave led to warning advisories about cascading domestic delays across the eastern seaboard network.
Due to high footy demand, last-minute round-trip tickets into Melbourne from Sydney and Brisbane jumped significantly, with some paths doubling or tripling in standard cost. The system-wide SmartGate electronic passport processing outage caused massive custom queues over the weekend. While resolved, manual backlogs caused minor border security slow-downs. Airport operators urged checking in at least 90 minutes before a domestic flight and 3 hours prior to an international departure. Terminal parking lots booked out completely. Operators advised reserving a space online in advance via the respective airport’s platform. Sydney Airport intermittently redirected international drop-offs to arrival levels to manage heavy ground traffic congestion.
