Australia’s major airports are bracing for an Easter travel onslaught as seasonal deals, domestic travel and school holidays converge. Savvy travellers can also maximise their time off by taking off 16 days in a row using just eight days’ annual leave.
A Finder survey found 13 per cent of respondents will travel for the Easter long weekend, spending $1.3 billion toward trips, with Baby Boomers expected to pay more for travel.
More Aussies are also forecast to travel overseas compared to last Easter due to the international travel rebound. Fewer queues and chaos are also expected this year as major airports have prepared for more passenger traffic and volume with increased staffing.
Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport is predicting its biggest Easter since 2019 with 2.4 million people set to pass through Sydney Airport during the Easter school holiday peak, a 90 per cent recovery on 2019 levels.
The forecast includes more than 1.5 million domestic passengers and 850,000 international passengers.
Sydney Airport is prepared for the increased demand after a strong workforce recovery. Operational performance has significantly improved with the airport’s 800 organisations approaching pre-COVID employment levels of 33,000 workers.
SYD has also updated the general guidance for domestic travellers, reflecting the ongoing recovery across the aviation workforce.
Passengers should arrive one hour before departure if they only have hand luggage and two hours before if checking bags.
Brisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport is predicting 1.4 million people to pass through the airport between 1–25 April 2023, an increase of 13 per cent on last year due to international travel.
Forecast Easter holiday capacity on domestic flights is up two per cent on 2022 levels and capacity on international flights is up 77 per cent.
The major sources for inbound tourists this holiday period will be from New Zealand, the UK and the US. The top three destinations for Queenslanders heading overseas are New Zealand, Bali and the UK.
Adelaide Airport
Adelaide Airport is expecting its biggest travel period since 2019 this month with passenger numbers forecast to be the highest in three years and almost back to pre-COVID levels.
A combination of Easter, school holidays, AFL Gather Round and LIV Golf is expected to push
passenger numbers close to 30,000 per day throughout most of April.
Adelaide Airport is well prepared for the passenger influx after adding a seventh security lane in December 2022 and an extensive recruitment campaign, particularly for security and retail staff.
Passengers are advised to prepare for the busy period by arriving 90 minutes before a domestic
flight and at least 2.5 hours before an international flight.
Melbourne Airport
Melbourne Airport is also expecting the Easter holidays to be its busiest travel period in three years. MEL encourages travellers to allow enough time for check-in and security with up to two hours for domestic flights and three hours before an international departure.
