Sydney Airport is Australia’s national gateway to the world. Used by 39 airlines, it connects to a network of nearly 100 international, domestic and regional destinations.
Over the past year, 37 million passengers passed through Sydney Airport’s three existing terminals. The airport accommodated nearly 321,000 aircraft movements and is forecast to grow: passengers to 78.9 million in 2029 and aircraft movements to 427,400 in 2029.
Today, Sydney Airport has three separate terminals:
- T1 is the international terminal used by all international airlines.
- T2 is the domestic terminal used by Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Tiger Airways, Rex, QantasLink, Brindabella and Aeropelican.
- T3 is the domestic terminal used by Qantas.
Concept plan
In December 2011, Sydney Airport announced a concept to evolve Sydney Airport into two integrated terminal precincts each serving international, domestic and regional services.
Following more than 12 months of extensive consultation with all airport stakeholders, including airlines, industry, government and the community, a concept has been developed that will be included in the next master plan.
Key benefits of the plan include:
- A better passenger experience, with improved on-time performance through more efficient airport operations;
- A better transfer experience for millions of passengers who transfer between international and domestic flights each year, allowing them to make connects within the same terminal building rather than travel across the airport; and
- Improved traffic flow around the airport precinct. Currently, the international and domestic precincts experience different peaks, with only one hour that overlaps during the week. Distributing the international and domestic passenger traffic across the airport would smooth out the peaks.