# Melbourne International Airport (MLB)



## west point (Feb 23, 2022)

Melbourne airport. As I remember it there was 1 somewhat E=W runway with a small terminal building in the SE corner. If it has not changed how in the world could it handle a 787 full of passengers?


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## jis (Feb 23, 2022)

west point said:


> Melbourne airport. As I remember it there was 1 somewhat E=W runway with a small terminal building in the SE corner. If it has not changed how in the world could it handle a 787 full of passengers?


Two parallel E/W runways

10,100' long ILS equipped 9R is the most commonly used runway for commercial traffic. 27L (naturally same length) is not ILS equipped but has everything else that 9R has, and is used quite often in visual approach conditions.

The other E/W runway and the cross runway are for little planes of which there are many that use MLB.

It is equipped for C&I processing. It apparently does have a few jetway equipped gates that can handle a 787. Actually it apparently has a gate that can handle a 747 too!

The airport also happens to be a significant airframe and engine service center.


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## joelkfla (Feb 23, 2022)

west point said:


> Melbourne airport. As I remember it there was 1 somewhat E=W runway with a small terminal building in the SE corner. If it has not changed how in the world could it handle a 787 full of passengers?


Google Maps shows 3 runways, but only one looks suitable for commercial jetliners.

As for the terminal:


https://melbourneorlandointernationalairport.ac-page.com/mlb-terminal-renovation-and-expansion-project


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## mcropod (Feb 23, 2022)

Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) is a proper international airport which handled all types of international and domestic traffic pre-Covid. It is the city's (pop 4+million) main airport, but not the sole one - nearby Essendon airport picks up most small charter and private traffic as well as a heap of cargo flights, and farther away Avalon airport is an emerging one for some domestic second-tier carriers and leisure travellers.

Essendon used to be the city's main airport in propeller days, but Tulla took over in the 1970s and has hugely expanded since then. I've flown into and out of it in aircraft as big as the A380, and it's my preferred point of international departure and arrival.

There's another smaller light aircraft airport at Kingston Heath in Melbourne's SE suburbs.

What makes you concerned, west point? Are you due to arrive here soon? I'll get them to keep the roos off the runway if so


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## mcropod (Feb 23, 2022)

Ahh you're referring to the Yank Melbourne, not the real one


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## jis (Feb 23, 2022)

mcropod said:


> Ahh you're referring to the Yank Melbourne, not the real one


Gotta know your airport codes. The right airport code appears in the title of the thread 

MLB is Melbourne International in Melbourne Florida, USA
MEL is Melbourne International (Tullamarine) in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Incidentally Melbourne Florida was thus named in honor of an Englishman expat from Melbourne Australia who was the first Postmaseter of what was then called Crane Creek. The original settlers were black freedmen.


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## mcropod (Feb 23, 2022)

That airport name business would be why some poor sap ended up in some isolated place near the north Atlantic coast rather than Pacific coast megalopolis Sydney that time, eh?

YMML is the other code I've seen for the real Melbourne's Melbourne airport. Gee, you'd be bummed-off landing somewhere in Florida and being puzzled by the lack of kangaroos, wouldn't you?


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## jis (Feb 23, 2022)

mcropod said:


> That airport name business would be why some poor sap ended up in some isolated place near the north Atlantic coast rather than Pacific coast megalopolis Sydney that time, eh?
> 
> YMML is the other code I've seen for the real Melbourne's Melbourne airport. Gee, you'd be bummed-off landing somewhere in Florida and being puzzled by the lack of kangaroos, wouldn't you?


Would be worse if you got eaten by an Alligator while you were at it


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## Maglev (Feb 23, 2022)

This thread of course is about Melbourne Orlando International Airport, formerly known as Orlando Melbourne International Airport.

"(AP) — After years of fighting and litigation over who can include “Orlando” in the name of their central Florida airport, Orlando International Airport officials and Orlando Melbourne International Airport officials have tentatively agreed that Orlando Melbourne International Airport will change its name to *Melbourne* *Orlando International Airport*...May 31, 2021"


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## west point (Feb 23, 2022)

Thanks for the updates, guys. Had forgotten about the small runway for the small indian airplanes.


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## VentureForth (Feb 24, 2022)

They are actually building a new terminal building with new jetways to specifically handle incoming 787s and processing 300 people through customs. This is a major expansion project. 

Runway 5/23 is mostly used by the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) flight school because it's quite suitable for the Pipers and Seminoles they operate and it is located right by their ramp. 9L/27R is small compared to 9R/27L but suitable for most planes up to small jets. Embraer flies its Phenom 300s on that runway quite a bit. 

Because the big runway (9R/27L) doesn't intersect 5/23, they can actually run operations on all three runways simultaneously when it gets busy. It does take a lot of coordination. The tower crew here is awesome, but you can tell they lose their patience when it's busy and there are 5 FIT international students who's English isn't their first language have difficulty understanding each other. But over all, it's a great little airport. When I lived in Kissimmee in the 90's, I actually flew out here for instrument training for a couple months.

For those wondering about runway numbers, they are typically aligned to the magnetic heading of the runway. Therefore, Runways 9 (L = Left, R = Right) both have a magnetic heading of 093-deg, rounded down = 090, drop the last 0, and it's 09, or 9 for short. Hope that makes sense.

For any av-heads, check this out for more details: MLB - Melbourne Orlando International Airport | SkyVector


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## VentureForth (Feb 24, 2022)

mcropod said:


> That airport name business would be why some poor sap ended up in some isolated place near the north Atlantic coast rather than Pacific coast megalopolis Sydney that time, eh?
> 
> YMML is the other code I've seen for the real Melbourne's Melbourne airport. Gee, you'd be bummed-off landing somewhere in Florida and being puzzled by the lack of kangaroos, wouldn't you?


They've actually officially renamed it to Melbourne Orlando International Airport. Now folks confuse it with Theme Park land an hour and a half to the West. I heard Orlando actually objected to Melbourne including the word "Orlando" in its name.


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## jis (Feb 24, 2022)

VentureForth said:


> They've actually officially renamed it to Melbourne Orlando International Airport. Now folks confuse it with Theme Park land an hour and a half to the West. I heard Orlando actually objected to Melbourne including the word "Orlando" in its name.


That is what caused it to become Melbourne Orlando International from the earlier Orlando Melbourne International, wasn't it?

I think including Orlando is an attempt by the airport management to see if they can get some additional secondary Mickey Mouse traffic to flow their way. Maybe the TUI thing is an indication that it is working somewhat. MLB had many more flights before the 2008 crash which removed many of the then existing flights as I seem to recall.


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## AmtrakMaineiac (Feb 24, 2022)

mcropod said:


> YMML is the other code I've seen for the real Melbourne's Melbourne airport. Gee, you'd be bummed-off landing somewhere in Florida and being puzzled by the lack of kangaroos, wouldn't you?


YMML is the ICAO code. MEL the IATA code, the one you would see on tickets and baggage tags.


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## jis (Feb 24, 2022)

AmtrakMaineiac said:


> YMML is the ICAO code. MEL the IATA code, the one you would see on tickets and baggage tags.


Indeed. KMLB is the ICAO code for the one in Melbourne, Florida.


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## VentureForth (Feb 24, 2022)

jis said:


> That is what caused it to become Melbourne Orlando International from the earlier Orlando Melbourne International, wasn't it?
> 
> I think including Orlando is an attempt by the airport management to see if they can get some additional secondary Mickey Mouse traffic to flow their way. Maybe the TUI thing is an indication that it is working somewhat. MLB had many more flights before the 2008 crash which removed many of the then existing flights as I seem to recall.


When you look at the TUI website, they strongly push MLB as the gateway to the parks. I haven't seen any cruise connections, but they do offer a Fly Drive package which is just air fare and a rental car for 7 days.


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## joelkfla (Feb 24, 2022)

ICAO is the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations specialized agency.

"ICAO is funded and directed by 193 national governments to support their diplomacy and cooperation in air transport as signatory states to the Chicago Convention (1944)."


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## BCL (Feb 24, 2022)

There was also DWS. It was short, but apparently with grooves designed to give off a noise that sounded like"When You Wish Upon a Star" when driven at certain speeds.

However, when discussing MLB, I don't think it really matters. You can always find a way. Even if the jetways aren't suitable I'm sure that airstairs could be used, like at Kona which doesn't even have jetways.

But it looks like they're looking to expand.


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## VentureForth (Mar 23, 2022)

MLB just received its first revenue 787 Tui flight from Manchester yesterday. Turns out this was a service previously contracted to Orlando Sanford airport. Unfortunately, the big plane wasn't able to be seen from the public access areas. The construction seems to be nowhere near complete. It seemed to take nearly an hour from touch-down until passengers could make it through customs. 4 large tour buses and a smaller coach were there, ready to whisk passengers away from Melbourne to the Theme Park zone of Orlando.

I confirmed with a Tui rep that the buses today are all for Orlando, but there are plans to integrate with the cruise ships in the near future.

Currently, one flight in and out per week. I imagine today's flight back to Manchester will be quite light.

If only Brightline planned a stop in Melbourne AND Cocoa....


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## bonzoesc (Mar 23, 2022)

KMLB had the An-225 move cargo in and out a few times, a 787 probably isn’t a big deal.



VentureForth said:


> If only Brightline planned a stop in Melbourne AND Cocoa....


I’ve been complaining a lot about this! I end up in downtown Melbourne quite a bit, and while the drive isn’t _bad_, be a lot nicer if I was on the train that’s already doing test runs.


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## VentureForth (Mar 23, 2022)

bonzoesc said:


> KMLB had the An-225 move cargo in and out a few times, a 787 probably isn’t a big deal.


Oh, the Airport can handle it (we also just had a 747 here - forgot who's). But for passenger flights, it's the biggest thing our new (still under construction) terminal has seen.

On a separate note, I saw an AN-125 lose an engine on take off in Albuquerque back in 2007ish. Returned without incident, sat for about two weeks until another AN-125 delivered a replacement engine and both left together. 

It is a shame that Russia decided to destroy a 225 in Ukraine.


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## joelkfla (Mar 23, 2022)

VentureForth said:


> MLB just received its first revenue 787 Tui flight from Manchester yesterday. Turns out this was a service previously contracted to Orlando Sanford airport. Unfortunately, the big plane wasn't able to be seen from the public access areas. The construction seems to be nowhere near complete. It seemed to take nearly an hour from touch-down until passengers could make it through customs. 4 large tour buses and a smaller coach were there, ready to whisk passengers away from Melbourne to the Theme Park zone of Orlando.
> 
> I confirmed with a Tui rep that the buses today are all for Orlando, but there are plans to integrate with the cruise ships in the near future.
> 
> ...


I'd never heard of TUI. For the benefit of others, Wikipedia says:

TUI Group is a British-German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for Touristik Union International "Tourism Union International". It is headquartered in Hanover, Germany.​


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## Devil's Advocate (Mar 23, 2022)

VentureForth said:


> They've actually officially renamed it to Melbourne Orlando International Airport. Now folks confuse it with Theme Park land an hour and a half to the West. I heard Orlando actually objected to Melbourne including the word "Orlando" in its name.


I have no problem with a company like TUI selling an end-to-end service _through_ a tertiary airport like MLB but name games like this are designed to cause intentional confusion and should be invalidated on this basis.



bonzoesc said:


> KMLB had the An-225 move cargo in and out a few times, a 787 probably isn’t a big deal.


Passenger logistics are rather different than inanimate cargo. My hometown airport services everything short of an A380 for heavy maintenance but the passenger facilities are not designed to handle anything more than a B757.


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## Metra Electric Rider (Mar 23, 2022)

I always associate TUI with it's namesake in Galicia (charming frontier town). 

Will there be a VIP terminal for the most important person from any Melbourne?


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