What is Kingsford Smith International Airport?

Kingsford Smith International Airport
IATA: SYD – ICAO: YSSY
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Sydney Airport Corporation Limited
Serves		Sydney
Location		Mascot, Australia
Elevation AMSL		19 ft / 6 m
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
07/25			Paved
16L/34R			Paved
16R/34L			Paved

Sydney (Kingsford Smith) International Airport, or Sydney Airport (IATA: SYD, ICAO: YSSY), is located in the Sydney suburb of Mascot. It is the major airport serving Sydney, and is a major hub for Qantas. Sydney Airport is the world's oldest continually operated commercial airport, and the busiest commercial airport in Australia, handling in excess of 30 million passengers per year (2006). It is currently the 33rd busiest airport in the world. The airport is managed by Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) and the current CEO is Russell Balding.

Situated next to Botany Bay, Kingsford Smith has three runways, colloquially known as the "East-West" and two "North-South" runways. In terms of land area, it is the smallest capital city airport in Australia.

Transport

The airport is accessible by road and via the Airport Link underground rail line. The International Terminal and Domestic Terminal railway stations are situated below the respective terminals and are part of the Cityrail network, however the train stations are privated owned and operated by the Airport Link consortium. Sydney Buses run the 400 route (Burwood to Bondi Junction) and the 410 route (Rockdale to Bondi Junction) which both stop at all three airport terminals.

History

Originally declared an aerodrome in 1920 (then known as Sydney Airport), it was renamed Sydney (Kingsford Smith) International Airport in 1953, in honour of Charles Kingsford Smith, a pioneering Australian aviator.

The airport's first runways were built in 1933, all in gravel. Some small streams where some of the present runways are located were also filled. By the 1960s the need for a new international terminal had become apparent, and work commenced in late 1966. The new terminal was officially opened on May 3, 1970, by Queen Elizabeth II. The first Boeing 747 'Jumbo Jet' to serve the airport, Pan American's 'Clipper Flying Cloud' (N734PA), arrived on October 4, 1970. In the 1970s the north-south runway was expanded to become one of the longest runways in the southern hemisphere. The international terminal was expanded in 1992 and has undergone several refurbishments since then.

In the 1960s, the limitations of having only two runways that crossed each other had become apparent. Various governments grappled (or failed to grapple) with the issue of Sydney's airport capacity for decades. Eventually the highly controversial decision to build a third runway (parallel to the existing main "North-South" runway, but entirely on land reclaimed from Botany Bay) was taken, and the much-anticipated proposed new airport on the outskirts of Sydney was shelved indefinitely.

Even once the "third runway" (as it is universally known to Sydneysiders), had been built, it remained controversial because of increased aircraft movements, especially over many of Sydney's inner suburbs. The 1990s saw the formation of the No Aircraft Noise Party, which gained support in areas of Sydney affected by aircraft noise. However, there has been general acquiesence in the arrangements for Sydney Airport that were introduced by the Howard government shortly after its election, namely to -

1. maintain curfews (extremely limited jet movements 2300-0600)
2. rotate runway operation, and fan flightpaths out (instead of concentrating them, as had previously been the case)
3. use, whenever possible, flightpaths over water, especially Botany Bay
4. continue the use of noise abatement (reduced power settings, etc) on departure.

In 2002, the Australian Government sold Sydney Airports Corporation Limited (later renamed to Sydney Airport Corporation Limited), the management authority for the airport, to Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Ltd. This is majority owned by a number of Macquarie Bank infrastructure investment funds. It holds a 99 year lease on the airport which remains Crown land. This has resulted in significant cost increases to airport users.

Since the international terminal's original completion, it has undergone two large expansions, and the entire airport is currently undergoing a large expansion stretching over twenty years (2005 - 2025). This expansion will include the addition of a high-rise office block, the construction of a multi-level car park, the expansion of both the international and domestic terminal. This latest expansion - and other plans and policies by Macquarie Bank for airport operations - are seen as controversial, due to the fact that the local councils, which usually act as the local planning authority for such developments, have no jurisdiction over the airport. As of April 2006, some of the proposed development has been scaled back.^[1]

Terminals and destinations

Kingsford Smith International Airport has three main terminals, referred to as T1 (or, to most locals, the "International Terminal"), T2 (the former "Ansett Domestic Terminal"), and T3 (the "Qantas Domestic Terminal"). The international terminal is separated from the other terminals by a runway which results in the need to allow for more time for passenger connections.

International Terminal 1^[2]

• Aerolíneas Argentinas (Auckland, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza)
• Aircalin (Nouméa)
• Air Canada (Honolulu [ends December 16, 2007], Vancouver)
• Air China (Beijing, Shanghai-Pudong)
• Air Mauritius (Port Louis)
• Air New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown, Rarotonga, Wellington)
• Freedom Air (Dunedin, Hamilton, Palmerston North) [ends March 30, 2008 and services to be taken over by Air New Zealand]^[3]
• Air Niugini (Port Moresby)
• Air Pacific (Nadi)
• Air Tahiti Nui (Papeete)
• Air Vanuatu (Port Vila)
• Asiana Airlines (Seoul-Incheon)
• British Airways (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, London-Heathrow, Singapore)
• Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
• China Airlines (Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
• China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)
• China Southern Airlines (Guangzhou)
• Emirates (Auckland, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Christchurch, Dubai)
• Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
• Garuda Indonesia (Denpasar/Bali)
• Hawaiian Airlines (Honolulu)
• Japan Airlines
• Japan Airlines operated by JALways (Tokyo-Narita)
• Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
• LAN Airlines (Auckland, Santiago)
• Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
• Norfolk Air (Melbourne, Norfolk Island)
• Philippine Airlines (Manila)
• Qantas (International) (Adelaide, Auckland, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beijing, Brisbane, Christchurch, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York-JFK, Noumea, Queenstown, San Francisco, Santiago [begins November 2008] http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2007/may07/3589, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Tokyo-Narita, Vancouver [seasonal], Wellington)
• Jetstar Airways (Christchurch, Denpasar/Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Honolulu, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Nagoya-Centrair, Osaka-Kansai, Phuket, Brisbane (Arrival Only) [1]
• Royal Brunei Airlines (Bandar Seri Begawan)
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
• Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
• United Airlines (Los Angeles, San Francisco)
• Vietnam Airlines (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City)
• Virgin Atlantic Airways (Hong Kong, London-Heathrow)
• Virgin Blue
• Pacific Blue (Christchurch, Nadi, Nuku'alofa)
• Polynesian Blue (Apia)
• Viva Macau (Macau)

Domestic Terminal 2^[4]

• Aeropelican Air Services (Inverell, Newcastle)
• Qantas
• Jetstar (Adelaide, Melbourne-Avalon, Ballina, Cairns, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Hervey Bay, Hobart, Launceston, Sunshine Coast, Proserpine, Townsville)
• QantasLink (Albury, Armidale, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo, Lord Howe Island, Moree, Narrabri, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga)
• REX (Regional Express) (Albury, Ballina, Broken Hill, Cooma, Dubbo, Griffith, Lismore, Merimbula, Mildura, Moruya, Narrandera, Orange, Parkes, Wagga Wagga)
• Air Link (Bathurst, Cobar, Dubbo, Mudgee)
• Virgin Blue (Adelaide, Ballina, Brisbane, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, Hervey Bay, Hobart, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Perth, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Townsville)

Qantas Terminal 3<ref name="Domestic" />

• Qantas (Domestic) (Adelaide, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Brisbane, Broome, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth)

Cargo Airlines

• Atlas Air (Chicago-O'Hare, Frankfurt-Hahn, Honolulu, Melbourne, New York-JFK, Shanghai-Pudong)
• Australian Air Express (Melbourne)
• Cathay Pacific Cargo (Hong Kong, Melbourne)
• FedEx (Subic Bay)
• Korean Air Cargo (Seoul-Incheon)
• Martinair (Amsterdam, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Hong Kong)
• MASkargo (Kuala Lumpur)
• Singapore Airlines Cargo (Singapore)
• Toll Priority (Melbourne)
• UPS

Sydney second airport proposals

This article or section contains information about planned or expected future infrastructure. It may contain speculative information and may change upon or during construction.

Sydney has been seeking a second airport since 1946. Today, the need grows more urgent, as Sydney's skies become increasingly congested and more discount airlines (which prefer to operate from airports with lower costs and shorter turnaround times) come into being. As a tentative first step, the Commonwealth has bought most of the land needed for a second airport, at Badgery's Creek, just west of Sydney. There are currently three proposals for the layout of the airport - A,B and C. All feature the terminals in the centre of the proposed three runways (in most cases).

The site is classed as moderately distant from Sydney. Access to the airport would be gained by an expressway branching off the Westlink M7 (completed 2006). The expressway would initially have four lanes, but would eventually be upgraded to a six lanes.

See also

• List of Australian airports
• Transport in Australia
• Airport and East Hills railway line, Sydney - Airport Rail Connection

References

External links

• Kingsford Smith International Airport Homepage
• Sydney Tower
• ERSA Sydney Airport FAC
• http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/viva-macau-adds-altitude-to-the-budget-flight-battle/2007/05/14/1178995076597.html

•  • [ e] Sydney landmarks
Buildings & Structures	Convention and Exhibition CentreFinger WharfQueen Victoria BuildingObservatoryMintOpera HouseEntertainment CentreHarbour BridgeSydney TowerStar City CasinoTown Hall
Precincts	Bondi BeachChinatownDarling HarbourKings CrossThe Rocks
Nature and Parks	Bicentennial Park Centennial ParkChinese Garden of FriendshipThe DomainHyde ParkRoyal Botanic GardensSydney Park
Cultural Institutions	Art Gallery of New South WalesAustralian MuseumAustralian National Maritime MuseumLuna ParkMuseum of Contemporary ArtMuseum of SydneyPowerhouse MuseumSydney AquariumTaronga Zoo
Sports	Football StadiumCricket GroundOlympic ParkTelstra Stadium
Transportation	Central StationKingsford Smith International AirportMonorailUnderground Railway