Where the Taxi Ranks Are at Melbourne Airport
Melbourne Airport, at Tullamarine, has four terminals and two taxi rank locations between them. For Terminals 1, 2 and 3 the ranks are on the ground floor outside T1, and between T2 and T3. For Terminal 4 the rank is on the ground level of the At Terminal T4 Car Park.
The airport asks that you only use the designated ranks and do not accept an offer of a taxi anywhere else on the forecourt. That advice is worth taking. A driver approaching you inside the terminal is not operating through the rank system.
Terminal 1, Qantas Domestic
The rank sits on the ground floor directly outside the terminal. It is the busiest of the two rank locations because it also serves passengers walking across from T2 and T3.
Terminal 2, International
There is no rank immediately outside T2. Walk to the rank between T2 and T3, or to the one outside T1. After a long haul flight with luggage and a customs queue behind you, this is the walk people least expect.
Terminal 3, Virgin Australia Domestic
Use the rank between T2 and T3, a short walk from the T3 arrivals area on the ground floor.
Terminal 4, Jetstar and Low Cost Domestic
T4 has its own rank, on the ground level of the At Terminal T4 Car Park rather than at the terminal door. It is the one terminal where the rank is not where most people first look for it.
Is Tullamarine Airport the same as Melbourne Airport?
Yes. Melbourne Airport sits in the suburb of Tullamarine, about 23 km north west of the city, and the two names are used interchangeably. Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne Tullamarine and airport code MEL all mean the same place. The other airport people sometimes mean is Avalon, which is a separate airport near Geelong and a much longer trip.
The Rank, or a Car Already Waiting
The rank works. It is also a queue, on a meter, and the length of it depends entirely on when your flight lands. Two flights arriving together at the same terminal is the difference between walking straight into a cab and standing outside for twenty minutes.
Booking ahead is the other option. We agree a fixed fare with you by phone before you travel, we track your flight number so a delay moves your pickup rather than costing you waiting time, and your driver is allocated before you land. Without meet and greet your driver collects you at the kerb. With meet and greet, $35, they wait inside the terminal with a name sign and help with your bags, which is the option most people choose after an international arrival into T2.
Every Other Way Out of the Airport, Honestly Compared
A taxi is not always the right answer, and it is worth knowing what the alternatives actually cost you in time and hassle rather than only in dollars.
SkyBus runs 24 hours to the city, St Kilda and Frankston. It is the cheapest option by a distance. It also runs to its own timetable, terminates at Southern Cross rather than at your address, and leaves you to make the last leg yourself with your luggage.
Public transport beyond SkyBus means a bus to a train, which is slow with bags and awkward outside daytime hours. There is no train line to the terminal.
Rideshare operates from its own pickup area rather than the taxi ranks, and prices rise with demand, so an evening arrival or a wet Friday can cost well above the base fare. That is the trade: it can be cheaper than a taxi, and it can be considerably more, and you find out which at the moment you need to travel.
Car hire makes sense if you need a car for the whole trip, and very little sense if you only need to get from the terminal to a hotel. The desks are in the terminal car parks.
Airport parking is the one worth doing the arithmetic on if you are leaving your own car. For a two or three day trip it often beats a return taxi. Past that it usually does not, because parking is charged per day and a taxi is charged twice. Open your own suburb page for the return fare and compare it against the airport’s daily rate for the number of nights you are away.
What an Airport Pickup Costs
Any trip that starts at the airport carries a $5.26 airport pickup fee. That is set by the airport and every operator pays it, whether you take the rank or book ahead. Beyond that our fare is worked out on the real driving distance, with tolls already included, and we agree a fixed fare with you by phone before you travel rather than counting it up on a meter.
Melbourne Airport estimates a taxi to the city centre takes around 35 minutes. Our estimated fare for that trip is on the Melbourne Airport to CBD page, and every other suburb has its own estimate on its own page.