Sydney Airport Australia

Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport  is Australia's largest and most important international and domestic airport, located 8 km from the city center at Mascot in southern Sydney on the northern shores of Botany Bay. Sydney Airport is the oldest continually operated commercial airport anywhere in the world.

Over 35 airlines fly in and out of Sydney Airport with multiple daily flights linking Sydney and key city destinations in the Pacific, Asia, Europe, North and South America.

The Asian-Pacific transport hubs of Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo and Seoul are particularly well-served by Sydney Airport, as are various European centres (especially London) via Asia. Multiple flight links also exist with New Zealand. In addition, the west coast of the US and Hawaii are popular inbound / outbound destinations.

Sydney Airport is the only airport in Australia with connections to every continent.

Travellers from Europe and the Middle East tend to travel into Sydney Airport via Asia, whilst travellers from South America fly via either North America or New Zealand.

You can fly to Sydney Airport directly from all other Australian capital cities and from many major regional airports. Otherwise, you will usually need to fly to the state capital and transfer to a Sydney flight. Sydney can be reached within an hour and a half from Melbourne and Brisbane, 45 minutes from Canberra and just under four hours from Perth.

Airlines and Terminals

Check the terminal that you are arriving at or departing from carefully.

International terminal (T1) - handles all international flights and some domestic flights. Check your itinerary and flight number as connections, customs etc will take longer when arriving or departing from the International Terminal even on a domestic flight! You do not need a passport when travelling domestically, just hang on to your boarding pass.

Domestic terminal 2 (T2)- is the largest domestic terminal. Airlines using this terminal include include Qantas & Qantaslink (Qantas flights 1600 and above), Aeropelican, Regional Express (Rex), Jetstar and Virgin Blue.

Domestic terminal 3 (T3)- handles only Qantas flights from 450-1599, which are mainly the inter-capital services. Qantas Cityflyer flights generally depart and arrive at Terminal 3.

Transfer between terminals

Transfer between domestic terminals T2 and T3 must be done on foot. Follow the signs either via the railway station underground, or across the car park.

Transfer between T1 and T2/T3 is 4km by road, as the terminals are on opposite sides of the airport tarmac. You will have to use one of the following methods to transfer.

• An Air-side shuttle is available free of charge if you are connecting through with Qantas or a One World partner airline, or between Virgin Blue and a codeshare flight or other international Virgin Flight (for example United Airlines).

• T-bus outside the terminal building. The T-bus is a dedicated terminal shuttle and uses the normal roads.

• Catch the train which is part of the Sydney suburban train system, not a terminal shuttle train.

• Taxi.

• Walk. If you have little luggage, and some time to kill, the walk will take around an hour. The route is not covered.

Sydney airport is world class in many respects, but terminal transfers are clumsy, and will surprise those who are used to terminal shuttles in other developed airports worldwide.

Between the airport and the city

Sydney Airport is only 13 km from the city centre by road.

• A train service known as Airport Link connects Sydney Airport and the CBD. Airport Link stations use the Cityrail commuter rail system and share a ticketing system—at the airport you can buy a ticket directly to any Cityrail destination.

• Mini-bus operators will drive a group of passengers to the city and deliver them to their hotels.

• Taxis

• Car rental is available at all Sydney Airport terminals from a variety of rental companies, although car rental will typically be more expensive when rented at the airport.

• Local Buses The only local bus route is 400 bus running between Bondi Junction and Burwood via Rockdale Station.

It is worth considering what your travel arrangements will be while in Sydney before purchasing a public transport ticket to the city as many multi-day and tourist tickets include some or all of the travel cost to to the city.