Sydney Airport

Very efficient airport, close to the city. Arrival, immigration and bagage handling all very fast and friendly. For departures, speedy check-in, friendly passport control and security, plenty shops and restaurants (with more to come as enhancement works are ongoing), well signed and compact terminal with not too long walking distances to the gates. An envoyable experience from start to finish.

Check-in and security at Sydney airport was very good and quite fast but once through security it is a disaster. Apparently the whole place is being renovated which means building work and virtually nowhere to get any food. One cafe said we are closing the kitchen because we are busy. With a maze of building work to walk through after 20 minutes we had to settle for a bacon burger. And most cafes had no menu and offers just sandwiches or cakes. For an international airport this is beyond poor.

It was a pleasant surprise at Sydney Airport to see that the status on the departure boards were stated in English and each country's national language. Made me feel so touched that such trouble was taken. Great job on that and great hospitality shown.

✅ Verified Review | Travelling back to Jakarta from Sydney and it was a nice airport. Two things I really like are that the staff are extremely helpful and the tax refund is not as crowded as other airports I've visited. The shops and duty free offer quite good things and there's a few restaurants. Signage is also good.

Fairly good International Airport with the above basic standards of service. Signs will guide you from your plane to the immigration area in Sydney. Certain nationalities can use the E-gate and skip queues, but as my flight was an early arrival there were no queues and this was not necessary. Outside in the arrivals area you'd find a few uninspiring choices for food and drink. Departing Sydney was a breeze. Bag drop for my BA flight was a quick one, and as I was eligible for the E-gate I did not have to queue to see an immigration official. No queue at the security check which was good. Shopping and food choices inside the airport are ok and I see they're making renovations to improve the service. Because Sydney International is a small-medium sized airport there is not much walking to be done and you can get to your gate in under 10 minutes. Their wi-fi is also good and there was no hassle to connect to the network.

We are leaving Australia after 3 great weeks enjoying the company of the friendliest people we have met - until arriving at Sydney airport. The staff here seem to have been recruited to be as aggressive and as unhelpful as possible, including a manager who simply said 'I don't know' and 'there's nothing I can do about it' when we asked when the tax refund office was going to open (it was 50 minutes late opening) and what would happen if we had to board our flight before anyone turned up. What a shame that they were the last people we saw before leaving.

The international airport Customs queues have been a joke for over 18 months and continue to be so. Arrived on 24 July and the "green channel" queue was almost impossible to find and very badly managed, in fact hardly managed at all. People were just walking in from wherever. Not hard to sort but nobody seems to care. Transfer to domestic airport is also a nightmare. I live in Sydney so have to use it but my advice to others would be to avoid this airport if you can.

I live and have been travelling into Sydney via the domestic airport for many years as a frequent flyer. The management or should I say mismanagement of the taxi pick up areas is a total disgrace and embarrassment to the state of NSW. The frustrations of travellers waiting for the process of getting ones taxi to play out is very evident on the face of most. The confusion an anarchy that seems to be the norm has been accepted by the airport management for too long. I implore this area to be reviewed and improved.

Sydney Airport is mildly comfortable, with a decent selection of restaurants. However, the staff could be more pleasant. The free Wi-Fi was excellent, and hotels are nearby. There are signs around which should help you get to the place you want. Overall, it genuinely depends on your personal experience.

Arriving at the airport, nothing too fancy before customs to be honest. Just overpriced items as usual near the food court as well as the below-average check in counters (outdated tech). Customs and security were alright. Now, once you go into the duty free zone, it's like a whole different world. If you were placed in the duty free zone with no knowledge of where you are, you'd immediately think it was a shopping centre and not an airport. Seriously, some of the items in the "duty free" shops are just outright more expensive than you get from outside retailers. Also, terminal seating has these armrests between each seat. Can SYD just change it to no arm rests for particular areas? Food was very average for it's pricing at an average of AUD$10. Airport staff are excellent though, they're very professional. Free WiFi is pretty good.