As the long weekend begins, more than 80,000 passengers are scheduled to pass through the airport.
As passengers are queuing at Melbourne Airport, similar situations are witness around the country.
As airport workers struggle to cope with the large influx, passengers are advised to come at least two hours before their departure time.
David Shoebridge, a member of the Greens, was among those waiting to catch an aircraft to Melbourne.
He tweeted, ‘Another holiday and another meltdown at Sydney’s privatised airport’.
‘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 said the situation was ‘stressful’.
Someone else 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.’
Next Thursday, Sydney Airport will host a large job fair as it ‘urgently’ employs staff to deal with the rush of people wanting to travel after the Covid pandemic’s two-year border closures.
Roles in security, luggage handling, government organizations, airlines, hospitality, and retail will be advertised.
At Sydney Airport, roughly 800 firms operating, and masks are required inside the terminals.
The job fair will take place in the T1 International Terminal between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
‘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 stated.
Thousands of travelers have complained about long lines to board flights and even longer lines to collect their passports, prompting the urgent request for workers.
Passengers queued for up to 300 meters around the security checkpoints at Sydney Airport at the end of April.
Travelers planning a trip for the start of the school holidays faced similar delays earlier that month, with lines running up to a kilometer long.
Passengers said they had missed their flights, and several alleged that the long wait at the terminals had been worsened by queue jumpers who rushed to the front of the lines.
School holidays, a scarcity of security officers, and, most surprisingly, forgetful passengers who were not in the habit of removing goods from their luggage for scanning were all cited by airport officials.
Those planning to travel overseas have recently been hampered by lengthy waits in obtaining or renewing their passports.
Many people are worried that they may have to postpone or cancel their vacations because they have been waiting three months for their passports.
Ed Andronicus, a Sydney university student, has been waiting nine weeks for his new passport, which he will require for his trip to Bali following month.
On Tuesday, a technical issue at the city’s passport office made things much more difficult, with some locals queuing all day just to be dismissed.
‘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 said angrily.