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Cairns Airport review by D walker
22 May 2007 Customer Rating : 
Flew in and out of Cairns International recently and found the airport a breeze. Only a handful of
carriers use the international terminal. Airside has all the usual stores, duty free and a centre
cafe. They even have a chocolate store. Great lounges and plenty of space with none of the crowds of
other gateways airports to Australia. Would recommend to anyone arriving or leaving Australia.
Cairns Airport review by A Smith
22 May 2007 Customer Rating : 
Cairns airport is a little run down but still functional. Only problem
is the lack of a decent coffee and meal at the domestic airport! Hungry
Jacks is always a crowd pleaser but when you need a good coffee at
5:00am, its just not possible!
Cairns Airport review by Ron Villagracia
29 January 2007 Customer Rating : n/a
I've only used the domestic portion (I fly via SYD) and while it is
small and a bit run-down, it's not a bad airport. In addition to the
too-tiny baggage carousel, the Virgin Blue check-in area needs to be
rearranged a bit. The queue for computerized check-in became entangled
in the queue for the baggage drop. The computerized check-in area needs
to be moved further away. I also appreciated the centralized booking
desk for the shuttles to town. On my last trip there I liked the
convenience of on-site car rental and return, but as with any Australian
airport you pay an extra tax on the car that you wouldn't if you rented
the car in town.
Cairns Airport review by P Major
22 August 2006
The facilities at Cairns airport aren't all that bad; however, arriving in Cairns on Jetstar or
Virgin is a chore as both carriers use the same tiny belt in their dated arrivals area. Taxis are
fairly quick to come through, though. Departing is okay, although a huge lineup at security meant it
wasn't as efficient as it could have been. The real problem with the terminal is the Jetstar gates.
People begin lining up well before they are even called and the small size of the terminal does not
allow enough space for this. Luckily, Jetstar are introducing allocated seating (finally), which
will solve this problem at the start of November.
Cairns Airport review by Andrew Wright
6 May 2006
I was fairly impressed by the range of retail stores available for
international transit passengers at Cairns airport - mainly tropical
touristy items, but that reflects the city. Not a great range of eating
places, a hamburger bar, sushi and Japanese snacks and a cafe with cakes
and slices for sale. All shops and restaurants were open when we arrived
at 6:30am. The airport, incuding the bathrooms, appeared pretty clean.
Decent views of the runway from the transit area. All in all a fairly
pleasant place to stop for a short time.
Cairns Airport review by Mark Thomson
19 January 2006
Arrived at CNS airport on a Qantas flight from Brisbane and departed on an Australian Airlines
flight to Singapore 4 hours later. The domestic and international terminals are linked by a covered
and paved walkway and was a short and comfortable walk despite the heat (middle of the day on 26
December). Our luggage was tagged to SIN when we departed BNE so we didn't have to worry about
lugging bags between terminals. CNS is not a big airport and doesn't have loads of retail outlets
or much choice for food, but the staff are friendly, the terminal is modern and fresh, the beer at
the bar is cold and we spent the four hours comfortably. We went on to deal with the masses in SIN,
LHR, AMS, BKK and SYD airports and concluded that the smaller and more relaxed airport at CNS was
the better of our experiences.
Cairns Airport review by Mark Johnson
13 November 2005
While International Airport is very small and easy to walk from one end
to the other, the gate number signage as you go into the departures
lounge is poor. Also, there are not enough screens, screens showing
boarding and departure times and the relevant gate numbers.
Cairns Airport review by Belinda Grohl
6
September 2005
A nice and comfortable little airport, but were relatively frustrated by the staff.
Myself and partner flew in to spend a 10 days in Port Douglas/Cairns area, and could
not remember the exact address of hotel - Air NZ hostess recommended we just write
hotel name. Big mistake. Were questioned by police as well as customs officials, bags
scanned extra 3 times, searched and looted through. Apparently they thought we were
going to overstay in the country, but the customs staff were extremely rude and
definately ruined the start of the holiday. Both Air NZ and Qantas ground staff were
very helpful though, which improved the experience slightly!
Cairns Airport review by Sally Heslop
28 January 2004
Departed from Cairns to London Heathrow via Tokyo for a family holiday.
We were very impressed by the facilities offered at the airport
especially in the departures lounge. Our only criticism would be that
the departures lounge for international flights is locked until about
90mins before departure which meant that we had to hang around for 3
hours with little to do after arriving at the international terminal
after a domestic flight. Otherwise a very welcoming airport which is
bright and well designed.
Cairns Airport review by Xuess Wee
11 July 2003
An airport that serves only 6 International Air carriers (I think) - it is breezily functional. Cool
and modern, the Australian airports tend to resemble each other - with little character to
differentiate from each other. The Cairns Airport does look a little too big for its purpose. Check-
in was fast and efficient though, as there was minimal queue, if any at all. Everything was done
with little fuss and was much appreciated. Airport is only about 15-20 minutes away from the City
Centre/Esplanade via Airport Shuttle Bus.
Cairns Airport review by W Haskett
9 December 2002
I recently used the Cairns International Airport as my gateway into/out of Australia. It is a small
airport with big value. There are only two terminals at the Cairns airport, both of which can be
comfortably walked end-to-end in 2 minutes. But there are no large crowds, long line-ups. Customs
clearance was fast and efficient (4 inspections, questionings). There is a covered walkway between
terminals which could be oppressively hot on a summer day but was quite enjoyable at 1 AM after
flying for 20 hours. The domestic terminal is very quite at that time of night. They provide
cushioned benches which could be cleaner but were welcome for a 5 hr layover.
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