Melbourne Airport

MEL YMML  Melbourne, Australia

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MEL at a glance

  • What it is: Melbourne Airport is a major international airport serving Melbourne, Australia.
  • Codes: MEL on your ticket, YMML on the radar.
  • How busy: the reference profile lists about 35.6 million annual passengers across 2 runways.
  • Main airline: Qantas bases aircraft here.
  • Right now: 30 aircraft are within 55 km, shown live on the map above.
  • Local time zone: Australia/Melbourne (UTC+10), so every time shown for MEL is local rather than UTC.

Aircraft observed near MEL

30 aircraft are within 55 km of MEL right now. This is live ADS-B traffic, not a published timetable: aircraft are classified by what they are physically doing - Climbing out, on approach, or holding at cruise overhead. For gate numbers and scheduled times, check with MEL directly or your airline.

Departing now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
VOZ309 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 12 kts
THA465 Thai Airways International route not published on stand or taxiing — —
QFA401 Qantas route not published on stand or taxiing — 17 kts
VOZ811 — route not published on stand or taxiing — —
VOZ813 — route not published on stand or taxiing — —
JST776 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 13 kts
VOZ677 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 3 kts
QFA80 Qantas route not published on stand or taxiing — —

Arriving now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
JST501 — route not published on approach 475 ft 120 kts
QLK50D — route not published on approach 1,750 ft 156 kts
SIA227 Singapore Airlines route not published on approach 3,850 ft 214 kts
RXA3554 — route not published on approach 9,400 ft 269 kts
35.6M
Annual passengers (reference)
2
Runways
4
Terminals
434 ft
Field elevation

About MEL

Australia's second-busiest airport, known locally as Tullamarine, and unusually operates 24 hours with no curfew. It is a major base for Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia. A third runway has been approved to meet growth in the 2030s.

Melbourne Airport at Tullamarine opened on July 1, 1970, replacing Essendon Airport, which had become hopelessly hemmed in by suburbs and unable to handle the new generation of jets. Planned in the 1960s as a spacious greenfield 'jetport,' Tullamarine gave Melbourne room to grow, with separate international and domestic terminals that were progressively knitted into a single complex. The airport was privatized in 1997 under a long-term lease, and Terminal 4 opened in 2015 as a dedicated budget-carrier facility.

Tullamarine's greatest operational asset is what it lacks: a curfew. Unlike Sydney, Melbourne operates around the clock, which has made it Australia's premier freight airport and a favorite for late-night international departures.

It is the second-busiest airport in Australia and the primary hub for the Melbourne operations of Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar. In 2024 the federal government approved a third, parallel north-south runway, the biggest expansion project in the airport’s history since opening day. The long-promised rail link to the city remains unbuilt, leaving the famous SkyBus and the crowded Tullamarine Freeway as the only practical way in and out of the airport.

How MEL operates today

Melbourne operates two intersecting runways, the north-south 16/34 and east-west 09/27, with a third parallel runway approved in 2024 to relieve the crossing layout. Four terminals sit in one connected complex: T1 for Qantas domestic, T2 for all international flights, T3 for Virgin Australia and T4 for Jetstar and other budget carriers.

Around-the-clock operations with no curfew make it Australia's leading air-freight gateway and attract long-haul departures at all hours. Traffic is dominated by the Sydney shuttle, dense trunk routes to the other capitals. A growing spread of Asian, Gulf, US and Trans-Tasman services.

Top routes from MEL

DestinationMain airlinesWhy it matters
Sydney (SYD) Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar Perennially one of the busiest air routes in the world.
Brisbane (BNE) Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar The second leg of Australia's east-coast golden triangle.
Perth (PER) Qantas, Virgin Australia The transcontinental trunk route across the Nullarbor.
Auckland (AKL) Air New Zealand, Qantas, Jetstar The busiest Trans-Tasman link from Melbourne.
Singapore (SIN) Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Scoot Melbourne's principal artery to Asia and onward European connections.

Facts about MEL

  • Melbourne Airport operates 24 hours a day with no curfew, unlike Sydney, which closes overnight.
  • A third runway approved in 2024 will be the airport's first new runway since it opened in 1970.
  • It is one of the largest airports in the world with no rail connection; travelers rely on the SkyBus and freeways.
  • Locals call it Tullamarine or simply 'Tulla' to distinguish it from Avalon, Melbourne's second airport.

Plane spotting at MEL

Public viewing spots along Operations Road and Sunbury Road on the airport perimeter are popular with local spotters, with Qantas and Emirates widebodies mixing with the relentless Sydney shuttle. New to spotting? Start with our aircraft identification guide and the world's best spotting airports.

IATA / ICAO
MEL / YMML
Location
Melbourne, Australia -37.669, 144.841
Time zone
Australia/Melbourne
Opened
1970
Hub for
Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar
Website
www.melbourneairport.com.au

Airlines hubbed at MEL

QF · QFA Qantas Australia

Nearby and related airports

Geographically close airports and useful alternatives in Australia.

SYD Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport Sydney, Australia WLG Wellington International Airport Wellington, New Zealand AKL Auckland Airport Auckland, New Zealand PER Perth Airport Perth, Australia

More airports and guides connected to MEL

Most of the tails you see here belong to Qantas. How a field like this runs day to day is covered in how airports work. Nearby, Sydney (SYD) serves the same country. The codes MEL and YMML are explained in airport codes decoded.

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

Passenger, runway, terminal and hub figures are maintained as a reviewed reference snapshot, not a live operational record. Check the airport directly before travelling.

Read our airport data sourcing and review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Frequently asked questions about MEL

What is the airport code for Melbourne Airport?

Melbourne Airport uses the IATA code MEL on tickets and baggage tags, and the ICAO code YMML in flight plans and on radar. The leading “Y” in YMML is the region marker: ICAO codes are grouped geographically, which is why airports near each other usually share their first letter or two while their IATA codes look unrelated.

How many runways does MEL have?

Melbourne Airport operates 2 runways across 4 passenger terminals. The field sits at 434 ft above sea level.

How busy is MEL?

This reference profile lists roughly 35.6 million annual passengers for Melbourne Airport. You can see aircraft observed departing, arriving and overhead on this page, taken from live ADS-B broadcasts.

Which airlines are based at MEL?

Qantas treat MEL as a hub or major base. Many other carriers serve the airport without basing aircraft there.

How many terminals does MEL have?

This reference lists Melbourne Airport with 4 passenger terminals. Check the airport or operating airline for the terminal assigned to a specific flight.

What time zone is MEL in?

Melbourne Airport runs on Australia/Melbourne, currently UTC+10. Flight trackers work in UTC internally, so the seven-day history on our flight pages is stamped UTC while the boards on this page are in MEL local time - worth remembering when the two disagree by a whole calendar day.

Can I track flights at MEL live?

Yes. The map on this page shows every aircraft broadcasting its position within about 55 km of Melbourne Airport, and there are 30 in range as this page loaded. The boards split them into departures, arrivals and traffic passing overhead, all timed in Australia/Melbourne.