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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
Coordinates		33°56′46″S 151°10′38″E / -33.94611, 151.17722
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
07/25	8,297	2,529	Paved
16L/34R	7,998	2,438	Paved
16R/34L	13,018	3,968	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.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Transport 2 History 3 Terminals and destinations 3.1 International Terminal 1[2] 3.2 Domestic Terminal 2[5] 3.3 Qantas Terminal 3[5] 3.4 Cargo Airlines 4 Sydney Airport Curfew 5 Sydney second airport proposals 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

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.

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.

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]

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.

The top long-haul destinations from Sydney are London-Heathrow, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Los Angeles, San Francisco Shanghai and Tokyo.^{[citation needed]}

• Aerolíneas Argentinas (Auckland, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza)
• Aircalin (Nouméa)
• Air Canada (Honolulu [ends December 14, 2007], Toronto-Pearson [begins December 15, 2007], Vancouver)
• Air China (Beijing, Shanghai-Pudong)
• Air Mauritius (Port Louis)
• Air New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin [begins April 1, 2008], Hamilton [begins April 1, 2008], Queenstown, Rarotonga, Wellington)
  • Freedom Air (Dunedin, Hamilton[ends March 30, 2008 and services to be taken over by Air New Zealand], Palmerston North[suspended from March 30,2008]) ^[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] [1], Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Tokyo-Narita, Vancouver [ends January 27], Wellington)
  • Jetstar Airways (Christchurch, Denpasar/Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Honolulu, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Nagoya-Centrair, Osaka-Kansai, Phuket, Brisbane (Arrival Only) [2]
• Royal Brunei Airlines (Bandar Seri Begawan)
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
• Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
• Transaero (Hong Kong, Moscow-Domodedovo) [starts December 24, 2007]^[4]
• 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)

• Aeropelican Air Services (Inverell, Newcastle)
• Qantas
  • Jetstar Airways (Adelaide, Melbourne-Avalon, Ballina, Brisbane, 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 [seasonal], Dubbo, Griffith, Lismore, Merimbula, Mildura, Moruya, Narrandera, Orange, Parkes, Wagga Wagga)
  • Air Link (Bathurst, Cobar, Dubbo, Mudgee)
• Virgin Blue (Adelaide, Albury [begins 8 February 2008], Ballina, Brisbane, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, Hervey Bay, Hobart, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Perth, Port Macquarie [begins February 2008], Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Townsville)

• Qantas (Domestic) (Adelaide, Alice Springs, Ayres Rock/Uluru, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth)

• 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, Guangzhou)
• Martinair (Amsterdam, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Hong Kong)
• MASkargo (Kuala Lumpur)
• Singapore Airlines Cargo (Singapore)
• Toll Priority (Melbourne)
• UPS (Nadi, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Anchorage)

In 1995 the Australian Government passed a law through parliament entitled "The Sydney Airport Curfew Act", which limits the operating hours of the airport. This was done due as an effort to curb complaints about aircraft noise.

The curfew prevents aircraft from taking off or landing between the hours of 11pm and 6am. During extreme weather, flights are often delayed and it is often the case that people on late flights are unable to travel on a given day.

This article does not cite any references or sources. (July 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

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.

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

• Kingsford Smith International Airport Homepage
• Sydney Tower
• ERSA Sydney Airport FAC
• [3]

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