VIC · Melbourne
Melbourne Airport → Melbourne CBD taxi fare
Catch a metered cab from Melbourne Airport to Melbourne CBD and you’re looking at between A$72.25 and A$83.66 on the day rate, with A$76.05 a fair midpoint. The drive is 26.9 km — about 32 minutes when traffic cooperates.
Estimated fare range
A$72.25 – A$91.78
26.9 km · 32 min typical
Tuesday 8am
A$72.25 – A$83.66
overnight tariff
Friday 6pm
A$72.25 – A$83.66
overnight tariff
Saturday 10pm
A$79.27 – A$91.78
peak tariff
Includes an estimated A$8.50 in tolls on the usual route.
Editor’s analysis
Tullamarine to Melbourne CBD is Australia’s longest “primary” airport run — Melbourne built its airport 22 km north of the city, so even a clean trip is 30+ minutes. Drivers default to CityLink (the M2), which adds A$4-6 in tolls, absorbed into the metered total via Victoria’s toll-recovery formula. Asking the driver to skip CityLink saves the toll but adds 10-15 minutes through Brunswick and Royal Park — worth it only off-peak.
Melbourne Airport’s regulated A$2.65 pickup surcharge is automatically added at the rank. Late-night arrivals after 10pm cross into Tariff 2 (night rate), which lifts the typical meter by A$8-12. Friday and Sunday evenings are the worst windows — international arrivals stack up between 9pm and midnight and the rank queue itself can run 20 minutes before you board. CityLink is the fast-and-bright option; the West Gate Tunnel is only faster if you’re heading to the western suburbs, not the CBD.
taxi-fare.com.au editorial · last reviewed
Recalculate with your own time
About this route
Victoria adds a small airport-pickup surcharge to fares starting at Melbourne Airport; that surcharge is already baked into the A$76.05 typical meter shown above. Saturday-night trips into Melbourne CBD on the late-night tariff settle near A$83.44 — useful to know if your flight or event lands after the band kicks over. Account for around A$8.50 in tolls if the driver takes the standard route into Melbourne CBD. The toll-free option is slower but cheaper.
The Melbourne CBD pickup zone runs from Flinders Street up to Victoria Street and across to Spencer Street. Standard VIC rank-and-hail rules apply between Melbourne Airport and Melbourne CBD: the driver must run the meter unless a regulated fixed fare is explicitly in effect (so the A$76.05 midpoint above is a maximum, not a quote). Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria (CPVV) sets the metered ceiling reflected here — about A$76.05 on the day rate for the trip into Melbourne CBD.
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