Coronavirus

From 9pm on Friday 20 March 2020, only Australian citizens, residents and immediate family members can travel to Australia.

All travellers to Australia are required to self-isolate for 14 days, either at home or in a hotel.

If you arrive in Australia as a non-exempt traveller, your visa may be cancelled and you will either be returned to your home country when flights are available or placed in an alternative place of detention for a quarantine period.

These arrangements are under constant review as the COVID-19 situation evolves, and will be revised based on updated health advice.
For more information visit, www.homeaffairs.gov.au or speak to your airline directly.
 

From 12:00pm 25 March 2020 all Australian citizens and permanent residents will be prohibited for travel out of Australia unless exempted.

The following travellers are exempt from the 'outbound' travel restrictions:

• Persons ordinarily resident in a country other than Australia.
• Persons whose travel is associated with essential work at offshore facilities.
• Persons engaged in the day to day conduct of outbound and inbound freight.
• Persons travelling on official Government business and members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF)
• Airline and maritime crew and associated safety workers.

They do not change their gloves, however they sanitise their hands after they search every traveller.

Transit exemptions do not apply to any foreign nationals who have been in China, Iran, the republic of Korea or Italy in the last 14 days.

All transits must occur on the same day as arrival and passengers must remain in the sterile transit area. Check transit facilities at Australian airports, your travel arrangements and if you are eligible to transit without a visa.

Foreign nationals departing New Zealand can only transit Australia to return home between 21 March 2020 12:00 AEDST and 26​ March 2020 11:59 AEDST​. At the end of this period, this exemption is no longer valid.

Citizens of the following countries can transit through Australia to return home. These countries are:

• Cook Islands
• Nauru
• Samoa
• Fiji
• New Caledonia
• Solomon Islands
• French Polynesia
• New Zealand
• Timor Leste
• Kiribati
• Niue
• Tonga
• Marshall Islands
• Palau
• Tuvalu
• Micronesia
• ​Papua New Guinea
• Vanuatu

Currently, random health checks are taking place across all inbound international arrivals. These checks are carried out by The Department of Health.
 

Biosecurity officers from the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture are meeting every international inbound aircraft and are distributing fact sheets about self-isolation to travellers. Passengers are then required to sign a form agreeing to self-isolate.
The forms are then handed to Australian Border Force inside International Arrivals.
 

Health experts recommend hand washing with soap and running water for 20 seconds as being a better form of hand hygiene than using alcohol based sanitisers. We’re encouraging more hand washing by people passing through the terminals by cleaning bathrooms more often and ensuring supplies of soap remain stocked up. We’ve installed hand sanitiser as an extra option to support the way people migrate through our terminals, but we urge everyone to make soap and water their first option – just like it is for the experts who recommend it.
 

We’ve changed the way we clean to increase how often our cleaners disinfect contact surfaces such as elevator buttons, escalator rails and counter tops. We’ve increased cleaning frequency, with more focus on making sure bathrooms are cleaned every two hours. We’ve also installed hand sanitiser inside all of our amenities, and throughout the precinct we’re promoting hygiene practices in line with government advice.
 

If you need to transit domestically, you may complete this transit and then begin your precautionary self-isolation period of 14 days provided you are an Australian citizen or resident returning to your home location, or are a foreign national and have existing transfer arrangements. If you have a layover, you must remain in the airport or self-isolate in your accommodation for the transit period. If you do not complete your 14 day precautionary self-isolation period after arriving in Australia, you may put the health and wellbeing of Australians at risk.
 

No, there are restrictions around the amount of liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGS) that can be taken through security screening. LAGS may only be taken in your carry-on luggage if they are in containers no more than 100mL in size.
 

Yes transport operators are still available at Melbourne Airport 24/7. You may find some operators running reduced services due to current travel restrictions affecting demand for airport transport. If possible, we recommend checking ahead before you fly.
 

For travelers in need of a place to self-isolate upon return to Australia, PARKROYAL Melbourne Airport is the closest hotel to the airport terminal, with direct connection via a pedestrian skybridge. With a variety of accommodation options available, we’re here to help ensure the health and safety of you and your loved ones should you need a place to self-isolate.

We take great pride in maintaining the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene and we are taking extra precautions during this time to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our guests and employees, as specified in the guidelines set by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.

For reservations or enquiries, please contact our team at +61 03 8347 2000 or email [email protected]. Visit https://www.panpacific.com/en/hotels-and-resorts/pr-melbourne-airport.html for more information.
 

We’re maintaining a focus on streamlining the arrivals experience for international travellers as much as we can. While there are some additional procedures in place at this time that can add a few minutes to your journey, for the most part the significantly reduced number of passengers passing through the airport means the delays aren’t especially noticeable.

The travel ban applies to foreign nationals departing from countries (China, Iran, South Korea, Italy) under the ban imposed by the Government.  Australian citizens and permanent residents from these countries are still able to enter.
All passengers on these flights are subject to a health check on arrival and are then required to self-isolate at home for 14 days from the day they departed.  The health check involves a temperature check being undertaken by the Victorian Department of Health & Human Services.
It’s worth keeping in mind that there remains some demand for travel from Melbourne to China, so many of the flights to and from mainland China are more heavily loaded departing Melbourne than arriving. However, a great deal of air freight is carried on passenger aircraft, so we also welcome these Chinese flights that help to maintain trade links between our countries – something that’s especially important for Victoria’s primary producers exporting into China.
As per Government advice, Australia will deny entry to anyone who has left or transited a country subject to travel restrictions within the previous 14 days, with the exception of:

• Australian citizens
• permanent residents
• New Zealand citizens resident in Australia
• immediate family members of Australian citizens and permanent residents including spouses, minor dependants and legal guardians
• diplomats.

Yes, most of the airport’s hospitality venues are open and operating as per their normal operating hours. You can see an up to date list of which venues are open on our website.

With the decrease in traveller numbers some outlets have closed inside Terminal 1. Hospitality staff have been redistributed to other high foot traffic areas inside the terminal.