Major Australian airports are bracing for the busiest day of the year as school holidays begin. Melbourne Airport is expecting it's busiest day since the onset of COVID-19 with more than 110,000 people expected through the airport on September 15, followed by an average of 100,000 people a day over the following two-week holiday period. It will be the airport's busiest day since the pandemic with school holidays and footy finals heralding a hectic period for travel. The coming weeks will also see the return of Chinese group tourists for the first time since the pandemic with China celebrating the 8 day national Golden Week holiday from September 29 to October 6. China lifted its ban on group tours to Australia last month. Melbourne Airport chief of aviation Jim Parashos said despite cost of living pressures, demand for travel remained strong. "We are hosting a Grand Final crowd here every day for the next two weeks, so the terminals and car parks will be busy" he said. "Nothing beats spending time with family and friends or barracking for your team at the big games, so we know that travel is something people are prioritising despite cost-of-living pressures." And at Sydney airport passengers should expect a typical pre-COVID school holiday experience with the terminals set to be bustling. Last September, Sydney airport had nearly 2.4 million people pass through for the holidays. Sydney Airport advised checking in online and arriving well before departure time to ensure ease of transit. Brisbane Airport is predicting 70,000 passengers to transit through the airport on September 29, which will make it the busiest day since the pandemic. The spring school holidays will see a whopping 1.65 million people travelling through Brisbane airport as the sunshine state sees a surge in domestic travellers on holidays. At Queensland's biggest airport, Mondays and Fridays will be the busiest days for domestic travel throughout the holidays, while Saturdays will be the busiest for international travel. For Queenslanders travelling abroad this spring, the most popular destinations are New Zealand, Bali, UK, Fiji and USA. "The domestic terminal will be humming these school holidays as Aussies come for an early taste of Summer, and when Brisbane Airport is busy, Queensland is busy," according to Stephen Becket, head of public affairs at Brisbane Airport. The international terminal will see 40 per cent more passengers than during the Spring holidays in 2022, with 366,000 people on the move. This is 75 per cent of pre-COVID 2019 levels. The top five locations for international visitors into Queensland is New Zealand, USA, UK, India and Taiwan. IN OTHER NEWS: Brisbane Airport will have therapy dogs in the domestic terminal as a way of reducing preflight stress for the travelling public, after a successful trial of furry support for anxious travellers in July. "The therapy dogs trial was such a success, returning them for school holidays was a no-brainer. Passengers and airline crew found they lowered stress levels and were a nice pre-flight distraction," Mr Becket from Brisbane Airport said. Both Melbourne and Brisbane airports are advising passengers to arrive well ahead of their scheduled flight time. They also advise booking parking in advance.