Sydney Airport

Flying to Hong Kong from Sydney at the boarding gate it was extremely crowded and dull very few seats but otherwise decent.

Inefficient overpriced poorly designed airport is the main gateway. The terminals are a few km apart and serviced by infrequent buses or a city train that's more reliable but a long walk toting baggage. Add in slow baggage handling times the inevitable customs and immigration wait and long walks to the gates and you'll have to allow at least two hours transit here. I've done this farce too many times on the way to/from Melbourne. Never again.

Leaving Sydney this time. The queues were minimal and the staff at emigration pleasant and polite. The only downside is that since revamping the airport you have to travel much further to get to departure gates because you are re-routed through the countless shops making a two minute walk into fifteen to get to the same point. I know airports derive a great deal of income from last minute duty free purchases but forcing you to meander through an overly long corridor past every shop does not endear the airport to this traveller. Apart from that this could be a great airport.

Arrived 2 hours late on 10th January. Immigration very polite and pleasant. Baggage just arriving on the carousel as we arrived. sniffer dogs well in evidence as we went through customs. A very pleasant experience overall.

Arriving at midday in domestic was a breeze. Luggage beat us to carousel. Easy to find way around. Stepped straight into taxi and in our city accommodation within 50 minutes from arrival. I have taken train once before but never again. A taxi to city cost (2 of us) $41.00 including tolls. Return trip cost $31.00 as no tolls out bound. So by train total cost $60.00 and by taxi door to door $72.00. The extra $12 overall is definitely worth it. Found the airport to be clean a good selection of shops food etc and has improved greatly over last couple of years.

Used Jetstar in T2. After arrival we joined the short queue for taxi's outside the terminal. There were seven of us and the taxi attendant was very helpful in organising a mini bus for us. We decided to catch the train to the airport from Central Station when leaving Sydney and was quite disappointed. The trains are very old and dirty and carry suburban passengers out to the western suburbs as well. I expect a better service when you are paying $15AUD for a 10 minute train ride. Plenty of shops and places to eat inside T2. Security was a breeze as all lanes were open. Good domestic airport but the train service is a massive let down.

Utilise airport frequently. Immigration queues terrible express pass waste of time when only one counter open. Flying in from NZ completed arrivals card with nothing to declare. Showed customs officer who advised to join lane 2 35 mins later reached front of queue to be told I was free to pass through ie no need to have baggage x- rayed. Why the 35 minute wait? If first officer checking cards had assessed risk level as low many passengers would have been free to depart minimising wait for everyone. Taxi queue at Qantas domestic terminal worst in the world large queues no taxis no organisation and hire cars parking in lane 1 blocking traffic ensuring nobody gets to go anywhere. Takes c.1hour to fly from Melbourne to Sydney but even longer to get in a taxi.

Now the refurbishment is complete the airport looks fairly good. Prices of drinks food in the departure lounge however are very high compared with many other International Airports. The choice of food and drink outlets in the departure lounge is very poor. Best to get these prior to entering the Departure Area. The check in and customs staff however are friendly and very helpful.

Arrived at Sydney Airport at 5pm. Out through the exit doors within 25 minutes later. Sydney Airport can be a nightmare if you arrive in the morning but otherwise it's fine. On departure checkin and customs quick. People complain about having to walk through the duty free stores on the way to the gates but it doesn't bother me. Just keep walking - you're through it in a minute.

Having had some diabolical arrival experiences at SYD in the morning peak-hour I was somewhat dreading the experience as we descended from out most recent flight. As it turned out there was no need to be concerned at all because from touchdown to taxi-rank took precisely 35 minutes! Could this possibly be the same Sydney International Airport that we know and love? Seems that the real peak hour is somewhat later than 0630 more likely around 0800 when the queues are much longer and the staff surlier. Quarantine matters were greatly assisted by officials screening passengers at the baggage carousel and stamping their arrival cards for a quick exit if they were considered a low quarantine/customs risk. All-in-all a pleasant experience.