World City Guide

Getting There By Air

Melbourne Tullamarine International Airport (MEL)
Tel: (03) 9297 1600. Fax: (03) 9297 1886.
Website: www.melair.com.au

Located 21km (14 miles) northwest of the city, Tullamarine is served by 29 international airlines and four domestic and regional airlines. The airport caters for over 17 million passengers per year.

Major airlines: Qantas (tel: 131 313, Australia only; website: www.qantas.com.au) operates international and domestic flights from Melbourne. Virgin Blue (tel: 136 789, Australia only; website: www.virginblue.com) also has a growing domestic network. Other major airlines include Air China, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Continental Airlines, Emirates, Garuda Indonesia, Gulf Air, Malaysian Airlines, Olympic Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines.

Approximate flight times to Melbourne: From London is 22 hours 30 minutes; from New York is 21 hours 30 minutes; from Los Angeles is 16 hours 20 minutes; from Toronto is 21 hours 10 minutes and from Sydney is 1 hour 15 minutes.

Airport facilities: These include Sky Plaza shopping and food outlets, duty free, bureaux de change, ATMs, left-luggage, information desk and medical centre. Car hire companies include Avis, Budget and Hertz.

Business facilities: The Hilton Hotel, Melbourne Airport (tel: (03) 8336 2000), on top of the airport car park, has a business centre with meeting rooms and full facilities.

Departure tax: A departure tax of A$38 is included in the airfare.

Transport to the city: Taxis are readily available and the journey to the city centre costs approximately A$35 (journey time – 20 minutes). Buses, operated by Skybus (tel: (03) 9335 3066), run every 30 minutes (0530-2330) and then every hour. The journey to the city centre costs A$12 (journey time – 25 minutes).