Sydney Airport travel chaos as massive queues form ahead of June long weekend

Massive queues have formed at airports and holidaymakers are being told to arrive three hours early as staff shortages spark travel chaos ahead of the long weekend.  

Thousands of passengers have been forced to wait hours to check-in as long lines formed in the terminals and stretched out the door at Sydney Airport at 6am on Friday.

Some 80,000 travellers are expected to pass through the airport throughout the day with another 95,000 travelling through Melbourne Airport – leading to similar scenes of chaos in the early hours of the morning. 

Airline workers are bracing for their busiest day since the start of the Covid pandemic and have been struggling to cope with the massive influx of travellers as staff shortages cripple the industry.  

Sydney Airport is set to host a jobs fair next Thursday in hopes of filling in 5,000 vacancies in just three weeks to avoid more chaos during the upcoming school holidays. 

Massive queues have formed at Sydney Airport sparking travel chaos ahead of the long weekend

Travellers have been told to arrive at least two hours before their departure time as airport staff struggle to cope with the massive influx. 

Greens senator David Shoebridge was among the crowd waiting to board a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. 

‘Another holiday and another meltdown at Sydney’s privatised airport,’ he wrote on Twitter.

‘Massive queue for bag drop then another one for security. They knew in advance how many people were coming because they sold tickets.’

One traveller headed for Melbourne described the scenes of chaos as ‘stressful’. 

Another person wrote on Twitter: ‘Allow some extra time if you’re heading to the Sydney airport this morning.

‘Long check-in lines as thousands are expected to travel for the long weekend.’ 

One holidaymaker said they had arrived three hours early and still weren’t certain if they would make their flight.

‘#Sydney airport is utter bedlam this morning,’ she wrote.

‘Bag drops are even melting down, queues to join queues. Glad I’m here 3 hours early but still may not make it.’

Sydney Airport will hold a massive jobs fair next Thursday as it ‘urgently’ recruits staff to cope with the influx of passengers hoping to get away after two years of border closures from the Covid pandemic.

Security, baggage handling, government agencies, airlines, hospitality and retail are among the roles that will be advertised. 

Thousands of passengers have been forced to wait hours to check-in as long lines formed in the terminals and stretched out the door at 6am on Friday

Travellers have been told to arrive at least two hours before their departure time as airport staff struggle to cope with the massive influx

There are around 800 businesses all operating at Sydney Airport, with masks mandatory inside the terminals.

The fair will run between the hours of 10am and 4pm and is taking place in the T1 International Terminal.

‘The jobs fair will give you an opportunity to talk to different employers at the airport. Over 40 businesses will be joining us on the day,’ the airport said.

The urgent callout for staff comes after countless passengers complained about huge wait times before boarding their flights, and even longer delays trying to get their passports.

At the end of April passengers at Sydney Airport were seen waiting in lines that stretched to up to 300 metres long, as queues snaked around the security checkpoints.

Similar delays were seen earlier that month for travellers planning a trip for the start of school holidays with queues stretching to one kilometre long.

At the end of April passengers were seen waiting in lines that stretched to up to 300 metres long, as queues snaked around the security checkpoints 

A huge queue of travellers is seen at Sydney Airport in April 

Passengers complained of missing their flights while some claimed the long hold-up in the terminals was worsened by queue jumpers barging to the front of the lines.

Airport bosses blamed school holidays, a shortage of security personnel and, remarkably, forgetful passengers out of the habit of removing items from their luggage for scanning. 

More recently those wanting to travel abroad have been set back by massive delays in getting their passports, or having them renewed.

Some have been waiting three months to get their passports, with many fearing they’ll have to postpone or cancel their holidays altogether.

Sydney university student Ed Andronicus has been waiting nine weeks for his new passport which he needs when he travels to Bali next month.

A technical glitch at the city’s passport office on Tuesday made it all the more difficult, with some residents waiting all day just to be turned away.

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With 2.4million passports expiring over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, processing times have doubled since October (pictured, lines outside the Sydney passport office)

A computer system crash added to the chaos at Sydney Passport Office on Tuesday

‘Been waiting at Sydney passport office for almost nine hours today. No communication about what is going on, people being turned away who have been waiting all day with flights tomorrow, because the printers have been turned off now (they were meant to close at 4pm). Appalling,’ one woman fumed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) advised holidaymakers to allow six weeks for their new passport, however many say they have waited longer.

Sydney’s passport office usually receives 7,000 to 9,000 applications every week, however requests in recent months have ballooned to 12,000.

It was a similar story at the Melbourne office, where desperate Aussies – including mothers with children – have spent three hours waiting in the cold.

A DFAT spokeswoman has since apologised for the delays and said waiting times should level out ‘over the coming weeks’.