Traveller warning as airport braces for end of school holiday strain

Travellers are being warned to arrive two hours before for domestic flights as airports brace for more delays as the school holidays come to an end.

It comes after the school holiday period kicked off in a chaotic fashion, with delays forcing some to call off their holidays altogether.

Head of communications at Melbourne Airport, Andrew Lund, admits “it’s not a great experience for passengers when things don’t go right” and the airport has been plagued by problems this week.

“We’ve had a lot of staff sickness with the ground handlers, really bad weather in Sydney which has delayed a lot of aircraft. There have just been a lot of things that have compounded that have resulted in some significant delays for people,” he told Stephen Quartermain and Elise Elliott, filling in for Ross and Russel.

And with more than 1000 Qantas, Jetstar and Network Aviation engineers are preparing to vote on strike action if they don’t receive a 12 per cent pay rise, more delays could be on the way.

“Everyone will be hoping after the couple of weeks we’ve had that any impact will be minimal,” Mr Lund said.

Press PLAY below to hear what’s fuelling delays at Melbourne Airport