Sydney Airport upgrade

[Carl F]

Hi all,
Could someone please give me an update as to the progress of the international terminal upgrade? I am flying out in a couple of weeks on Virgin and am not sure what to expect once I am through.
My brother flew out a couple of months ago and mentioned that there wasnt much open once you go through customs, is this still the case?
I like to get there early as possible but if most things are still under development I may not go so early.

Thanks
Carl

[Steve Crook]

Carl can I assume you are referring to T1? That being the case, in November when I flew out I was surprised how much was open. Certainly all departing passengers, regardless of which pier their plane is parked at, go through one entrance on pier B side. When seeing friends off the other week whose aircraft was on pier C side, we were able to see them again after customs as they walked past the landside food court - a lot of fun. Anyways, there seemed to be lots of outlets opened when we went through, right up to and along the pier where gates 30 onwards are. After security you are fed into the BIG duty free area and beyond that there was a lot of business going on. The TRS office was still tucked away in a broom closet but the new one may be open by now (if not the temporary one is on the right as you walk towards where the pier splits into the 20s and 30s gates. It's up the end of a little corridor near the toilets). We didn't see what had happened on pier C with regards to new structures. I think there will be enough to keep you busy if you went through - and keep in mind, this was early November.

[Gareth Forwood]

I'll also be flying from the Intl terminal in a couple of weeks and would love to hear what sort of photographing opportunities there are. Like Carl, I don't want to head out too early if too much of the window space has been taken up by shops...

[Sarah C]

I was there two months ago and was surprised how much was open. The food court is still in progress before customs but there is more and more opening particularly airside. I didn't go by the Virgin Pier but the rest of it was taking shape nicely. Most of the focus looked like it was turning towards the Gate 8-10 piers.

Mind you the only real part of interest airside for me is windows for photography! :D I'm not too interesting in eating or shopping but there was enough around to keep you amused.

[Steve Crook]

Gareth there are still the big windows where the food outlet was/is on the left of the first pier you walk out along after the duty free. And there are LOTS of window vantage points all along the pier with gates 8, 9 and 10 as well as the gates 30 onwards pier. And, also, walking along the corridor that takes passengers to pier c will give you good views out to the apron between the 2 piers, so keep your camera out.

[Matt R]

would love to hear what sort of photographing opportunities there are.

The Observation Deck is still open, but taking photos from the food court is not really possible any more due to the air-side walkway.

[Sarah C]

An underrated area is a section opposite Gate 24 - you would walk past it but it gives great views. You can see down the pier of Gate 30-39 (?) - nice big windows, and you can see the runway too. Hardly anyone sits there for some reason. Whatever is at Gate 31, you feeling feel like you are standing right next to it :)

[Carl F]

So once through you can access all of the departure gates then? This all sounds good.
I fly out at 3.50pm so I will be there early to take in all the views.

Thanks for your info.

[Steve Crook]

Yep Carl - there's lots of ground to cover airside. You have access to all gates on all piers. Have fun

[Carl F]

Cheers Steve, I may post a trip review when I get back.

Carl

[Michael Cleary]

What irks me most about T1 is the need to navigate through the Duty Free shops both outbound and inbound, whether you want to or not. No doubt it's due to SACL wanting revenue from every SqM of space they can get.

Anyone got thoughts about Immigration being before Security on the way out? It seems that almost everywhere else that I have been in SE Asia it's the Security checkpoint first.

[Steve Crook]

Interesting thought Michael. It got me thinking about my experiences. In Jordan there was a big x ray of everything before checkin, but then I seem to recall it was immigration then security airside. Charles De Gaulle had immigration then security. I am a bit foggy about what it was at Hong Kong (I'll claim sleep deprivation as the cause) but I THINK it was immigration first then security as well. In Taipei it was immigration then security as it was at Narita. I can't remember what it was at Changi, except that there was security at each gate. If there was another level of security going through to airside I can't be sure. I only transitted at Kual Lumpur so don't know what the immigration/security set up is, but there was security at each gate prior to boarding. And I can't for the life of me remember what the setup was at any of the New Zealand airports I've been through in recent years. I guess at one level logic would suggest that security might be more effective if it was carried out before entering the immigration hall as this would, more than likely, render that environment secure.

[Andrew P]

MNL - immi then security
BKK - immi them security
HKG - security then immi

as for the duty free barrier, it stinks

[Ash W]

Singapore is immigration, shopping then security at each and every gate. For transit passengers they arrive in the shopping area and head back through security.

Bangkok is immigration, shopping and security at each pier.

As for the main point raised about having to be funneled through the shops to get to the gate, this seems to be an Australian thing. Cannot think of too many other places where this is done, especially on arrival.

We are lucky were are not like airports run by the BAA though, such as Heathrow and Gatwick. Both these have a policy of not announcing gates until about 1 hour before a flight, so you are forced to wait in the shopping area until the gate is known. And of course the amount of seats is limited to encourage you to walk around. I saw a BBC show where they admitted quite freely this was a policy to encourage people to shop, because if they annouced the gates any earlier people would head there too early and not shop.

[Andrew P]

Bangkok is immigration, shopping and security at each pier.

no longer

Departing passengers are reminded that you now go through your security screening immediately after passing through immigration, rather than at the entrance to each concourse

[JamesP]

MFM - X-ray of checked baggage before check in. Security check, and then immigration before the gates. Additional security check of carry-on luggage before boarding.
HGH - Immigration then security.

At Sydney airport, while you do have to walk though the Duty Free store outbound once past immigration and security, coming back it, you don't have to walk though it, but rather, walk past it, and the people saying "last chance for duty free items", before immigration and the baggage carousels.

[Erik H. Bakke]

The international areas of OSL and BGO (both in Norway) also funnel the passengers through the shops on the way to the gates.

In both cases, this is a fairly recent development which only happened in the last 3-4 years.

AMS was still good last time I travelled through there, almost 3 years ago.

[Kim F]

Have often wondered about the efficiency of the security checking at individual gates ala Singapore. There must be a good reason as the Singaporeans seem to be very efficient at everything else

[Ash W]

Singapore does at it every gate because they do not have separate arrival and departure levels, and clearly do not trust security at originating airports for transit passengers.

Will be interesting to see the changes in Bangkok if they have moved security to after immigration. Will be going through in 2 weeks time. I wonder where they got the space to put in sufficient security screening points and what they are doing for transit passengers. Good thing I guess is we can now take duty free grog purchased in BKK onto flights to Aus.

[Andrew P]

Problem with Singapore is the terminal is only one level, so very difficult to separate arrivals from departures
Bet if the rebuilt it; they would build an arrivals level and a departures level.
Ash W – no as flights to Aussie still have a final check at the gate and all duty free booze will be taken from you and never seen again

[Anthony T]

We are lucky we are not like airports run by the BAA though, such as Heathrow

Nowt wrong with 'eathrow, just check in as early as possible, take a free bus to a pub on the north side and come back later.

Or you could just go to the lounge of your airline and ask the attendant on the desk what gate your flight will be departing from and chill out there with a book etc.

Anthony T

[Ash W]

I always do the latter at Heathrow, so no great issue for me, I just despise the whole idea of people being forced to sit or walk in the shopping area when the gate of the a/c is already known.

As for the pub idea, not too bad except of course BAA now also have very strict cut off times for security, at T5 in particular. I have seen some people who have checked in been turned away at security because they were too late.

[Brent M]

Recently flew to LA on Air New Zealand ex SYD. I must say, it is quite a hike from J Island (Air New Zealand Check In) to Pier C. What astounded me was after Immigration and Security to be confronted by the massive Duty Free. Also I noticed signage to the Pier C Gates was poor though I do understand this situation will be rectified very soon.

I was chatting to the lovely lady in the ANZ Lounge who mentioned people have missed there flights due to the new layout and they are warning pax at check in to proceed directly to Immigration and Security.

I did love the glassed on area where you can see people landside in the food court area.

Any idea when it is all supposed to be finished?