Is Melbourne Airport parking safe?

In late April 2026, 3AW Drive host Jacqui Felgate spent a segment of her show on rampant car theft at Melbourne Airport. Felgate was reacting to fresh Victoria Police data and a wave of listener calls from travellers who'd come home from holiday to find their cars gone. The story was picked up by news.com.au the same week.

For most travellers the natural reaction is anxiety — and rightly so. You're flying out for work or holiday, your car is going to sit somewhere for a week or two, and the last thing you want to think about while you're away is whether it'll still be there when you get back.

But there's an important distinction the news coverage doesn't always make. 'Parking at Melbourne Airport' isn't one thing. It covers the airport's own car parks — Terminal Parking and Value Parking, both run by Melbourne Airport itself — nearby street parking, and a long list of off-airport operators. Security varies enormously between them — and where you choose to park is the part travellers can actually control.

Most car parks describe themselves as 'secure'. The word does a lot of heavy lifting and rarely gets unpacked. So here's what it should actually mean if you're trusting a facility with your car for two weeks.

• Purpose-built, not converted. A car park designed from day one for storing vehicles has integrated CCTV coverage, controlled access points, and physical construction that takes security into account — as opposed to a converted warehouse, or a leased patch of land with a couple of cameras stuck on a pole.
• Fully fenced perimeter, not chain-link with gaps. This is the big one for outdoor airport car parks. Most of them have multiple unmanned pedestrian gates, gaps in the fencing for service vehicles, and long stretches of perimeter that aren't actively watched. A genuinely secure facility has one controlled vehicle entry point and no foot access at all.
• Active monitoring, not just cameras. Cameras are now everywhere, but their value depends on how many of them there are, what they cover, and whether the rest of the facility is built to back them up.
• Restricted pedestrian access. Probably the most important one. If anyone can wander onto the property on foot — between cars, through unmanned gates, off the street — every other security control loses most of its value.
• Keys stay with the customer. When you self-park and keep your keys, no staff member has access to your car for the entire trip. That doesn't make a car impossible to steal — vehicles are still being taken from public airport car parks while their owners' keys sit in another country — but it removes one path entirely and makes a target of opportunity less attractive.

Every concern in the list above is something SkyPark addresses by design — not as an add-on, but as part of the original facility build.

SkyPark is one of only three purpose-built self-park airport parking facilities in Melbourne. Most off-airport competitors are valet-only converted lots. The on-airport options are Terminal Parking — close to the gates but expensive past a day or two — and Value Parking, the cheaper open-air lot that's currently in the news. SkyPark sits in a category of its own: a multi-level undercover concrete facility designed for one job — safely storing customers' cars while they fly.

Inside that facility:

• 120+ CCTV cameras cover every level, every entry point, every exit.
• Fully fenced perimeter with controlled vehicle gates and no public pedestrian access. There's no second-best gate, no service entrance round the back, no chain-link with gaps.
• Pedestrian access is restricted outside business hours. Vehicle gates remain accessible 24/7 via your booking, so you can always get to your car — but no one walks in off the street.
• 24/7 operation. The facility runs around the clock. Vehicle gates open via your booking at any hour.
• Self-park keeps you in control of your keys. You walk straight from your bay to the shuttle. No staff drive your car, no staff park it, no one else opens it for the entire trip. That doesn't make any car theft-proof — but it removes one of the easiest paths.
• Electronic key safe for valet customers. If you choose Underground or Rooftop Valet, your keys are held in a secure electronic key safe — not in a drawer, and definitely not under the back tyre.

A fair question. Melbourne Airport runs its own parking on-site: Terminal Parking for short stays close to the gates, and Value Parking for longer trips further from the terminals.

Terminal Parking is convenient and undercover, but the daily rate is built for travellers who only need a few days. For anything past a day or two, the cost adds up fast.

Value Parking is the cheaper option for longer trips — a large open-air car park with chain-link fencing and multiple pedestrian access points. It's the kind of facility recent reporting has put under scrutiny. If you've parked there before because it was the cheapest option, the trade-off has shifted. Saving a few dollars a day on parking means a lot less if your car isn't there when you come home.

For longer stays, an indoor purpose-built facility with continuous CCTV and a fully controlled perimeter delivers something an open lot can't — and at SkyPark, the daily rate gets better the longer you stay.

Whether you park with us or somewhere else, these are worth doing every time.

• Choose a facility, not a lot. Look for purpose-built construction, fully fenced perimeter, and controlled vehicle entry — not just a fenced-off corner of a yard.
• Check the camera coverage. A facility's website should tell you how many cameras are in operation. If they can't or won't, that's a signal.
• Read recent reviews specifically about security. Filter Google Reviews for 'secure', 'safe', 'cameras', 'peace of mind'. Recent reviews matter more than a high overall star rating.
• Don't leave registration paperwork or personal documents in the car. Possibly the most underrated travel-safety habit. If your car is broken into, you don't want a thief leaving with your home address.
• Wipe your home address from the car's GPS and 'home' shortcut. Most cars now save 'Home' in the satnav, and many phones do the same in CarPlay or Android Auto. If your car is stolen, that's a one-tap drive to your front door while you're overseas. Clear it before you fly.
• Hide valuables before you arrive. Phone chargers, sunglasses, jackets on the back seat — anything visible is an invitation, anywhere you park.

If you'd rather not spend your trip wondering whether your car is OK, SkyPark exists to take that worry off the table. One of only three purpose-built self-park airport parking facilities in Melbourne. 120+ CCTV cameras. Fully fenced perimeter. 4.9 stars across more than 2,447 Google Reviews.

See your price using the calculator below. Booking is 1-2-3, and free cancellation applies up to 24 hours before entry.