The Virgin Australia Lounge at Melbourne Airport is now located after the security checkpoint, making it easier to head to the departure gates in Terminals 3 and 4 directly from the lounge.

The lounge has not physically moved. But since Wednesday, the large Terminal 4 security checkpoint at Melbourne Airport is now a central location that also serves Terminal 3.

Virgin Australia passengers will still check in at Terminal 3, but now need to head over to the Terminal 4 security checkpoint to access all departure gates in Terminals 3 or 4 and to access the Virgin Australia Lounge.

The escalators that previously led from the Virgin Australia check-in area in Terminal 3 to the Virgin Australia Lounge are now closed. This area is now boarded up as a construction zone.

The change to the Melbourne Airport layout ultimately makes the “premium exit” at the Virgin Australia Lounge in Melbourne redundant, since the lounge is now located airside rather than land-side. (This had been closed for most of the pandemic, anyway.) As of Wednesday, the security checkpoint that was located at the end of the Terminal 3 pier has been removed.

There is a new priority security lane for Virgin Australia Gold, Platinum and Business Class guests on the right hand side of the Terminal 4 security checkpoint.

When Australian Frequent Flyer visited yesterday afternoon, the priority queue was short but nobody was checking that people in this line were actually eligible to use it. (We believe this is properly enforced during the morning peak periods.) Incidentally, the “priority” line also seemed to be the slowest of all the lines yesterday afternoon because the x-ray machine wasn’t working properly and people were waiting 10 minutes for their bags to be screened. However, this was likely just a one-off issue.

After clearing security in Terminal 4, Virgin Australia passengers have access to the large food court in Terminal 4 or can turn right to head down a newly-opened walkway past the private Virgin Australia Beyond lounge, towards the Virgin Australia Lounge and Terminal 3 boarding gates.

Overall, this new setup does seem like an improvement. One potential downside, however, is that this will make it even more difficult for eligible passengers on Virgin Australia international flights from Melbourne to Nadi or Denpasar to access the lounge.

Virgin Australia does not have a lounge in the international terminal, and eligible passengers on the airline’s own international flights from Melbourne are currently only able to access the Virgin Australia domestic lounge in Terminal 3. This was already inconvenient as it’s located before the international security and immigration checkpoints in Terminal 2, where all international flights depart. But accessing that lounge will also now require passengers to clear security in Terminal 4.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Melbourne VA Lounge becoming airside from August 2022

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.