Melbourne Airport embarks on hiring blitz to keep up with COVID recovery

Held over two sessions today, Thursday 18 May, the jobs fair saw businesses looking to fill hundreds of positions such as cabin crew, retail and hospitality, transport, law enforcement, and security, ranging in seniority from entry-level to senior management.

According to Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus, the airport has seen passenger volumes return to 88% of pre-COVID capacity, resulting in a need for more staff to keep up with demand.

“Not only are we seeing more people travelling, but we’re also renovating parts of the terminal – such as adding 11 new restaurants in Terminal 1 – creating new retail and hospitality opportunities,” she said.

“Qantas, Jetstar, Rex, Bonza and Virgin all have vacancies to fill, and a couple of our international carriers are also recruiting.

“This is the first time we’ve held a careers fair on-airport, and it’s a great opportunity to get a feel for the environment and speak directly with employers.”

Melbourne Airport this year saw a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in passengers for the month of April, despite a very slight decline in domestic traffic.

A total of 2,710,505 people arrived or departed from Melbourne Airport in April 2023, up from 2,264,236 in April 2022. This was driven by a 136 per cent increase in international passengers, up from 325,077 to 773,645, while domestic passengers dipped 0.1 per cent from 1,939,159 to 1,936,860.