Taylor Swift has touched down in Australia just days before she is due to hit the stage at the MCG, leaving her fandom divided after 25,00 fans tracked the pop star’s jet.
Taylor Swift has touched down in Melbourne, where she will kick off the Australian leg of her Eras Tour, with 25,00 people controversially tracking the singer-songwriter’s flight as it travelled from Honolulu.
About 6,000 people were monitoring Flightradar24, a global flight tracking service, as the 14-time Grammy award winner landed at Tullamarine airport just before 1am on Thursday, with a total of about 25,000 people following the flight.
Dozens of Swifties also gathered at the airport anticipating the music icon’s arrival.
Taylor Swift fans flocked to the Melbourne Jet Base to catch a glimpse of the pop star. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jake Nowakowski
Dozens of fans awaited Swift’s arrival ahead of her Aussie tour. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
Despite not being able to see the star before she was whisked away into an awaiting car, for dedicated fans, merely being near their idol was a dream come true.
However, some fans were quick to point out that tracking the star’s plane and waiting for her at the airport was overstepping boundaries.
“It’s creepy. Just leave her alone,” one supporter wrote on Facebook.
“People who care about her should care about her privacy and respect her enough to not overstep that boundary. Going and finding her at the airport, especially in a private sector where you genuinely cannot see her is just weird.”
Melbourne, are you … Ready For It?
— B. from the burbs (@its_just_be) February 14, 2024
Swift’s legal team recently threatened legal action against a college student who has been tracking her plane and announcing her location on Twitter.
Swift has intense security measures in place in part due to several dangerous situations with crazed stalkers.
Nevertheless, certain Swifties found no problem in patiently awaiting her arrival at the airport, particularly considering that many of them were young children.
“It’s really sad to see people shaming others for being excited?! Some of these are kids who didn’t get tickets and just wanting something to remember. What’s any different to someone outside the MCG each night?!” one said.
“They parked in a public viewing spot to see her plane land, people do that every day!
“Just let them be excited.”
The 34-year-old artist will hold three performances in Melbourne from Friday night, before travelling to Sydney for an additional four shows.
