Virgin Australia scraps Premium Entry for eligible Velocity members at Sydney Airport

Virgin Australia has announced it will permanently close its Premium Entry service at Sydney Airport, replacing it with expanded priority security screenings for eligible travellers.

Previously, Premium Entry provided Velocity Platinum Plus, Platinum, and Gold members – along with business class guests and lifetime lounge members – an exclusive fast-track from kerbside to lounge in under five minutes via a dedicated security checkpoint.

From December, those passengers will instead enter through the main terminal but will be able to skip the dreaded security queue and gain access to priority screening lanes.

The priority lanes, however, will only be open during peak hours which are 5-10am and 2-7pm Monday to Friday.

A Virgin Australia spokesperson said the changes reflect a wider upgrade to Sydney Airport’s screening facilities, part of a national overhaul by the Australian Government.

“At Sydney Airport, it is anticipated that 95 per cent of passengers will travel from the kerbside to the airside in less than 15 minutes as a result of the screening upgrade,” the spokesperson said.

These improvements include the introduction of advanced CT scanning technology, allowing passengers to keep laptops, liquids, and aerosols in their bags, streamlining the process further.

Changes to other airports

Premium Entry at Brisbane Airport will close temporarily for upgrades from November 19, reopening in late 2026. During this period, priority screening will operate at the new central security zone on the mezzanine level (accessible via the Skywalk and check-in hall) from 5-10am, Monday to Friday.

In Melbourne, priority screening hours will be extended to cover peak times. Meanwhile, priority screening is being reopened and will operate all day in Perth.

Over in Adelaide and the Gold Coast, priority screening remains available for eligible Virgin passengers throughout the day.

The wider security overhaul

The Federal Government’s $2 billion airport security upgrade aims to strengthen aviation security and make travel faster for both domestic and international passengers.

The biggest change is that passengers will no longer need to remove laptops, liquids, or aerosols from their bags — an often frustrating ritual that has long slowed down security lines and added stress to the airport experience.

Sydney Airport, which has just opened 11 of 15 new screening lanes at T1 International, is already seeing the benefits as the number of passengers going through the new lanes has already doubled.

“Passenger throughput has increased by 100 per cent compared to the previous lane output,” a spokesperson told The Nightly.

Although the total number of lanes will decrease from 17 to 15, the new 21-metre conveyor belts will boost overall screening capacity by nearly 30 per cent.

Since the new lanes were introduced, 99.1 per cent of international passengers and 99.9 per cent of domestic passengers have cleared security in under 10 minutes, significantly exceeding the Government’s expectation of a 15-minute maximum journey from check-in to gate.