Melbourne Airport’s changes to its pick-up and drop-off arrangements will require domestic and international passengers to walk between 172 and 380 metres to new zones in an undercover car park, prompting warnings that independent travel will become harder for people with disabilities and mobility challenges.
Kerbside pick-up and drop-off will end on October 6. The existing area, about 20 metres from the terminals, will be replaced by dedicated spaces in the car park.
Suzanne Cridge, who has inclusion body myositis and regularly travels interstate, said the new arrangement could increase the risk of falls and injuries for people who travel alone.
Cridge, from Southbank, was diagnosed with the rare degenerative muscle disease five years ago. She said the current drop-off area had enabled her to travel without assistance, but estimated the longer route would add at least 30 minutes to her journeys.
“They’re promoting this as an upgrade,” Cridge said. “It’s not an upgrade for everyone.”
“The point I’m making is that we work really hard to maintain a degree of normality in our lives,” she said. “The reality of our experience is that it’s hit or miss. That’s why I’m worried about being dropped off at such a distance from the terminal.”
Ally Scott, executive officer of advocacy group Disability Rights and Culture, said the change risked making passengers more dependent on airport and airline staff.
“It’s always a concern when a development leaves people dependent on other people for an additional add-on service because that’s always a diminishment of independent travel,” Scott said. “And so that’s never going to be an ideal solution.”
Assistance planned at Melbourne Airport
Melbourne Airport said its Airport Assist programme would operate from 3am to 1am daily under the new arrangements. Designated pick-up and drop-off spaces will be available for people requiring assistance.
The free drop-off zone will have a five-minute limit. Drivers will then be directed to the T123 car park, where the first 15 minutes are free, or to a free 60-minute waiting area.
The airport also plans to introduce pre-bookable Disability Discrimination Act parking spaces in the undercover car park, allowing people to park as close to the terminals as possible.
In partnership with Travellers Aid, the assistance service will use powered wheelchairs and golf-cart buggies to transport passengers through the airport. Melbourne Airport said it had worked with accessibility consultants Get Skilled Access in preparing the programme.
Independent consultant and former Paralympian Nick Morris, who helped develop the service, said a closer drop-off point was preferable but changes were required because of the volume of passengers using the airport.
“What they need to do is to make sure that the frequency of golf carts, the frequency of electric wheelchairs, all of this assistance that get people from A to B seamlessly is done properly,” Morris said.
Melbourne Airport estimates that more than 100,000 people pass through the site each day. The changes form part of plans to expand the international terminal into the forecourt currently used for pick-up and drop-off.
