Welcome

Welcome to the first edition of Connections for 2019, which promises to be an especially exciting year here at Sydney Airport.

This year marks 100 years since Australian aviation pioneer Nigel Love watched the propellers of his aircraft kick up the dust of what was then a Sydney bullock paddock. Taking to the skies, Love would go on to complete what history would record as Sydney Airport’s first commercial flight.

We’ve come a long way from that dusty paddock and the solitary shadow cast by Nigel Love’s aircraft. A century later, Sydney Airport welcomes more than 44 million passengers and contributes $38 billion to the Australian economy each year. Almost 31,000 people work across the precinct to ensure each of those 44 million passengers enjoy a world-class airport experience.

As we celebrate our Centenary later this year, we’ll be reflecting on the many milestones that have dotted Sydney Airport’s history – a history closely entwined with that of our city and aviation itself. As part of this, we’ll be hosting a variety of exciting activities, events and installations to mark our hundredth year. Our Centenary also presents an excellent opportunity to look toward the future and consider how we can continue to be innovative and use technology to further improve the airport journey for our passengers.

This year, we’ll continue to build upon our efforts in 2018 to create a more seamless and comfortable customer experience. We’ve been listening closely to our passengers and making sure we invest in those aspects of the airport journey that are most important to them. To that end, we delivered a wide range of improvements in 2018 – from introducng automated bag drop and check-in at T1 International, to launching our Quiet Terminal initiative and providing new bathroom facilities with a focus on improved accessibility, along with a host of other improvements and upgrades across our terminals. We were also excited to launch our facial recognition processing trial – technology that will facilitate a more convenient and seamless journey than ever before.

This year is already shaping up to be a busy one as we roll up our sleeves and get stuck into some exciting projects here at Sydney Airport. I’m very much focused on finding new ways to inject more fun into the airport journey. Air travel has always been, and remains, a magical experience. But I think it’s sometimes easy to forget that when we’ve all become accustomed to it. Our aim is to provide an airport experience that consistently delights and captures the magic of air travel.

As part of this, we’ve been looking at how we can revamp our arrivals experience for both international visitors and returning Sydneysiders. We want to create an experience that conveys an authentic sense of place and genuinely feels like a part of the trip. We’re also working to ensure this is the case for those departing Sydney. Later this year, we’ll be unveiling our new digital departures wall, which will help our city showcase its unique character and rich stories. We’re very much focused on ensuring we’re an airport of which all of Sydney and NSW can be proud and one that celebrates our wonderful part of the world.

We look forward to this year joining together with you to celebrate our Centenary and the incredible role that our city has played in the history of aviation.

Kind regards,

Geoff Culbert

CEO, Sydney Airport