Sydney, Jun 10 (IANS): As Australians across the country are gearing up for a long weekend, airports have been inundated with some of the largest crowds since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Looking to escape the icy weather still hanging over Australia's eastern and southern states, on Friday 80,000 passengers were expected to pass through Sydney's airport, and more through the nation's second largest airport in Melbourne, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to Australian media, crowds have been queueing up since 6 a.m. local time on Friday and travellers have begun missing flights despite arriving on time.

Sydney airport advised travellers to arrive two hours early for domestic flights, rather than the usual one hour, and asked customers not to enter the terminal unless their flight was soon to depart.

"In the lead up to the holidays it will be busy, but we are doing everything we can to make sure people get away on time, including bringing people forward through the queues according to flight priority," said Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert.

Ahead of the long weekend, Sydney Airport hosted a jobs fair looking to hire more than 5,000 across its facilities.

Culbert said that "15,000 jobs were lost at the airport during the pandemic and even though everyone started recruiting heavily when borders looked like opening, we've still got 5,000 roles to fill".

He said the jobs fair was part of the airport's preparations for Australia's July holidays but called for patience as the sector recovers.

"Labour shortages are hitting every sector in the economy, and we want to thank everyone who is travelling during this period for their patience as we rebuild the sector."