Cairns Airport

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 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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.