Sydney Airport

Arrived after a traumatic journey from Christchurch the immigration was confusing, we used the epassport machine but the signage was unclear and we ended up queing when we didn't need to. We were ticked off twice for not using the automated gates, customs queues are long and exhausting.

✅ Verified Review | After travelling Europe for a month and flying to nine different cities and airports on arriving in Sydney I have to say Sydney aiport is old, cramped, outdated, small and dirty, especially the toilets which were filthy for an early morning flight that we came on. Going through customs was very good compared to the disaster that was Dubai airport. Sydney airport is outdated and old, needs major refurbishment to keep up with the utlra modern airports of Dubai and Paris. Its time for a new arrivals terminal. It's the first impressions that count.

✅ Verified Review | Sydney Airport has the most disorganised customs arrival hall in the world. Lines were massive and the officials just could not be bother to organise anything. It gave one the impression that creating orderly lines was just all too difficult on a Monday morning and they just smiled and had a chat to one another. Senior management should be ashamed that they allow this to happen.

✅ Verified Review | Monday morning getting through customs - terrible. Massive lines, no customs officials trying to sort things out. Must be the most disorganised customs arrival process in a first world country. Most customs officials just smiling and talking between themselves. Management should be ashamed of themselves.

✅ Verified Review | Entry as a Kiwi holding an e-passport was very easy and I zoomed through immigration. Pleasantly surprised how fast my baggage arrived and I was out before I knew it. The arrivals terminal though was not very nice. I couldn't find an ATM with any ease and there was limited eating options. Signage through to where I was to be picked up was ok. When leaving the traffic getting to the airport was horrific. Parking fee for my friend dropping me off was extortionate. However, one inside the facilities were good in terms of food and shopping. Bathrooms were clean. WiFi was easy to connect to. Security was quick and easy. Overall, dramatically improved from previous visits in past years.

Pathetic baggage handling speed at Sydney Airport. Waited 40 minutes just to collect baggage and an additional 25 minutes to go through customs. This is the worst airport beyond record. By comprison Hong Kong Airport is about 20 minutes waiting for baggage on arrival.

✅ Verified Review | As someone's iterated before, having a dozen or so seats for 100+ people in the curfew waiting area is abysmal. Security reasons! Never land here unless you have a way out asap. If you have to stay between the hours of 11pm-5am it's worth just planning to go to Melbourne international instead, trust me. Literally the worst airport in Australia, I've been to better ones in third world countries.

✅ Verified Review | The international section of Sydney Airport is simply a cash cow for its owner and the NSW state government. It is difficult and expensive to travel in and out of and is not passenger centred at all. The low level of service provided to the travelling public inside and outside the security barrier is disgraceful. I last travelled from this abomination in November with Singapore Airlines. The airport trains which cost AUD 15 to travel 3 stops from Central Station were not running so I had to get a taxi to the terminal and because there were roadworks the journey was slow and expensive. I do have to say that the people who work in security are professional and mostly good-humoured considering their abysmal working conditions given the bottleneck configuration of their work areas and the importance of their work. Once inside the terminal, all bets are off. Try finding space or a comfortable seat outside of a Business club lounge, or access to charging stations, or reasonable Wi-Fi, or a decent range of eateries, or public bathrooms. There are also no smoking rooms. This may be unpopular with some people and I get that but if you are lawfully able to sell a product you should be entitled to consume it in an appropriate area so that it does not cause harm or inconvenience others. Last trip to the USA in May this year our Air New Zealand flight was delayed by 8 hours and we were not permitted to exit and re-enter by the guards and there was no smoking room. It is obvious that the international terminal at Sydney airport is a dud run by complacent governments of all political stripes and a corporate owner which has absolutely no regard for customer service or comfort. Wherever possible in future, with international travel, I will leave and re-enter Australia via Melbourne or Brisbane. Pathetic beyond measure.

✅ Verified Review | It was not until my departure from Sydney that I experienced the real inadequacy of this airport. The check-in area contains "desks" for many airlines in a space far too small for the purpose. It is chaotic, queues become confused, the pace of check-in is snail-like, and it is even hard to tell which airline counter is which. On a scale of one to ten this airport rates negative one. Quite a contrast from the city of Sydney, which is world-class.

The only thing I've been able to do on this WiFi is load this page to write my review. Can't load applications due to capped speed so incredibly slow that I almost thought it wasn't working. I think you'd be hard pressed to use even 10 MBs of the max 500 in the 30 minutes you're allowed per day. To put it in perspective I'll be staying at a place with dial up that has faster download speeds than this. If a subpar coffee shop can provide better WiFi than a major airport, there's something wrong.