Passengers have for days been warned to expect long flight delays, with airports already struggling with a surge in travellers throughout the week.since the pandemic began, with more than 88,000 travellers to go through Melbourne Airport, 82,000 through Sydney Airport, 56,000 through Brisbane Airport and 25,000 through Adelaide.Long queues began to form at Adelaide Airport by 5am, with a shortage of baggage handlers said to be behind the delays.
Chaos at Melbourne Airport has led to a flight travelling to Brisbane without a single piece of luggage on board, according to an announcement made at Brisbane Airport.Sydney Airport also saw long lines early in the morning, before congestion eased and passengers went on to clear check-in and security within an hour.
Passengers appear to have heeded warnings to arrive extra early for flights at Melbourne Airport, where lines have not been too bad following days of long queues.People are being told to brace for delays and to arrive at the airport at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lyall Stranby has said COVID-19 resulted in thousands of highly skilled workers being made redundant.They are scaling up the workforce, but given the safety-critical nature of the job it will take time. The majority of the delays have been at check ins, but people have also been waiting up to an hour for their bags upon arrival in Melbourne.