The Qantas logo on the exterior wall of Airline One (pictured on the right)

Melbourne Airport’s four terminals*** have 56 boarding gates, including 40 and 16 for domestic and international flights. There are six parking aprons at the south cargo apron for cargo aircraft to park. Starting from July 2005, each terminal has changed its original name. The Qantas domestic terminal was changed to the current Terminal 1, and the international terminal and North Terminal (previously known as Ansett Domestic Terminal) were changed to Terminals 2 and 3.

Terminal One

Terminal One is mainly used by Qantas, its subsidiaries Jetstar and QantasLink. The departure floor is located on the upper floor, while the arrival floor is on the ground. All 15 boarding gates in the terminal are equipped with boarding bridges.

The expanded Qantas terminal opened in late 1999. The expansion project costs 50 million yuan and will take 2 years to complete. Qantas Airways has three VIP lounges in Terminal 1: Qantas Club, Business Class, and Chairmans.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 pick-up lobby (picture on the right)

Terminal 2 handles all international flights at the airport, Jetstar Airways Excludes flights to Singapore via Darwin. Terminal 2 has 16 boarding gates, 11 of which are connected to the boarding bridge, but gates 12 to 16 do not connect the boarding bridge to the apron. Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas (with two lounges for first and business class passengers), Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, United Airlines and Emirates have lounges in Terminal 2.

In 2007, Terminal 2 spent 300 million yuan to expand. Projects include adding retail facilities and VIP rooms, building a satellite terminal, improving baggage handling capabilities, and redesigning customs and security inspection scopes. The newly completed satellite terminal will have floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the north and south runways. In addition, there will be three double-decker boarding bridges capable of handling one Airbus A380 passenger plane or two smaller passenger planes. Two new baggage conveyor belts will increase baggage handling capacity to cope with the additional passenger traffic brought by the A380 aircraft. All works started in November 2007 and are expected to be completed in 2012.

Terminal 3

Virgin Blue dedicated boarding gate 13 (picture on the right)

The original name of "Ansett Air Terminal" is now Owned by Melbourne Airport and used by Virgin Blue and Regional Express. Terminal 3*** has 19 boarding gates, 11 of which are connected to the boarding bridge.

Ansett Airlines expanded the third terminal in 1989 and completed it in 1991. Later, Kendell Airlines, a regional airline owned by Ansett, moved into this terminal. The terminal was exclusively used by Ansett and its affiliated airlines for domestic flights until Ansett went bankrupt in 2001. Tesna subsequently expressed interest in purchasing Ansett, and Terminal 3 planned to be allocated to a new Ansett Airlines. In 2002, Tesna withdrew from the acquisition and Ansett sold the terminal to Melbourne Airport. Melbourne Airport subsequently renovated Terminal 3, and Virgin Blue subsequently moved from Terminal 4. Virgin Blue and Regional Express also have VIP lounges in Terminal 3.

Terminal 4

Terminal 4 - formerly known as "Domestic Express" or South Terminal - is the first low-cost airline terminal at any major Australian airport. Terminal 4 was originally used by Virgin Blue and Impulse Airlines, but after Ansett collapsed, Virgin Blue moved into Terminal 3. In June 2007, Melbourne Airport spent 5 million yuan to renovate the fourth terminal, following the low-cost terminal model of Singapore Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur Airport charge relatively low landing fees and airport handling fees to low-cost airlines, while the airports provide basic passenger transportation facilities to low-cost airlines. Compared with the main terminals, these terminals do not have boarding bridges and have smaller conveniences and retail facilities. But unlike Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Terminal 4 is not connected to other major terminals at Melbourne Airport. Tiger Airways Australia has been using Terminal 4 alone since its launch.

Jetstar Airways confirmed that it is in discussions with Melbourne Airport to expand the fourth terminal to accommodate the future development of domestic low-cost airlines.

The proposed expansion plan includes upgrading infrastructure to handle Tiger Airways and Jetstar flights, but the plan will involve relocating the existing cargo hub. The project is expected to cost hundreds of millions and take five years to complete.