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Kingsford Smith International Airport

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Kingsford Smith International Airport
200px
IATA: SYD - ICAO: YSSY
Summary

<tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Airport type</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">public</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Operator</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">Sydney Airport Corporation Limited</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Serves</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">Sydney</td></tr>

Elevation AMSL 19 ft (6 m)
Coordinates 33°56′46″S, 151°10′38″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
07/25 8,297 2,529 Paved
16L/34R 7,998 2,438 Paved
16R/34L 13,018 3,968 Paved

Image:MascotAirport6.JPG


Sydney (Kingsford Smith) International Airport, or Sydney Airport (IATA: SYD, ICAO: YSSY), is located in the Sydney suburb of Mascot. It is the major airport serving Sydney, and is a major hub for Qantas. It is the world's oldest continually operated commercial airport, and the busiest commercial airport in Australia, handling in excess of 26 million passengers per year, which is expected to rise to over 68 million by 2020.

Situated next to Botany Bay, the airport is accessible by road and via the Airport line underground rail link. In terms of land area, it is the smallest capital city airport in Australia. Kingsford Smith has three runways, colloquially known as the "East-West" and two "North-South" runways.

Contents

[edit] History

Originally declared an aerodrome in 1920 (then known as Sydney Airport), it was renamed Sydney (Kingsford Smith) International Airport in 1953, in honour of Charles Kingsford Smith, a pioneering Australian aviator.

The airport's first runways were built in 1933, all in gravel. By the 1960s the need for a new international terminal had become apparent, and work commenced in late 1966. The new terminal was officially opened on May 3, 1970, by Queen Elizabeth II. In the 1970s the north-south runway was expanded to become one of the longest runways in the southern hemisphere.

In the 1960s, the limitations of having only two runways that crossed each other had become apparent. Various governments grappled (or failed to grapple) with the issue of Sydney's airport capacity for decades. Eventually the highly controversial decision to build a third runway (parallel to the existing main "North-South" runway, but entirely on land reclaimed from Botany Bay) was taken, and the much-anticipated proposed new airport on the outskirts of Sydney was shelved indefinitely.

Even once the "third runway" (as it is universally known to Sydneysiders), had been built, it remained a political hot potato because of increased aircraft movements, especially over many of Sydney's inner suburbs. The 1990s saw the formation of the No Aircraft Noise Party, which was something of a local force, even in federal elections. However, there has been general acquiesence in the arrangements for Sydney Airport that were introduced by the Howard government shortly after its election, namely to -

  1. maintain curfews (extremely limited jet movements 2300-0600)
  2. rotate runway operation, and fan flightpaths out (instead of concentrating them, as had previously been the case)
  3. use, whenever possible, flightpaths over water, especially Botany Bay
  4. continue the use of noise abatement (reduced power settings, etc) on departure.
Image:Sydney Airport Terminal Control Unit.JPG

In 2002 the Australian Government sold the Sydney Airports Corporation, the management authority for the airport, to Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Ltd. This is majority owned by a number of Macquarie Bank infrastructure investment funds. It holds a 99 year lease on the airport which remains Crown land. This has resulted in significant cost increases to airport users. More recently, the entity has been renamed to Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL).

Since the international terminal's original completion, it has undergone two large expansions, and the entire airport is currently undergoing a large expansion stretching over twenty years (2005 - 2025). This expansion will include the addition of a high-rise office block, the construction of a multi-level car park, the expansion of both the international and domestic terminal. This latest expansion - and other plans and policies by Macquarie Bank for airport operations - are seen as controversial, due to the fact that the local councils, which usually act as the local planning authority for such developments, have no jurisdiction over the airport. As of April 2006, some of the proposed development has been scaled back.<ref name=SMH>Sydney Morning Herald. April 21, 2006 issue</ref>

[edit] Terminals

Image:MascotAirport2.JPG
Image:MascotAirport1.jpg
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Image:MascotAirport3.jpg
Image:MascotAirport5.jpg

Kingsford Smith International Airport has three main terminals, referred to as T1 (or, to most locals, the "International Terminal"), T2 (the former "Ansett Domestic Terminal"), and T3 (the former "Qantas Domestic Terminal").

[edit] International Terminal 1

[edit] Domestic Terminal 2

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  • Aeropelican Airlines (Williamtown)
  • Air Link (Dubbo, Mudgee)
  • Alliance Airlines
  • Big Sky Express (Grafton, Gunnedah, Inverell, Taree)
  • Qantas
    • Jetstar (Adelaide, Avalon, Ballina, Cairns, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Launceston, Sunshine Coast, Proserpine, Rockhampton, Townsville)
    • QantasLink (Albury, Armidale, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo, Lord Howe Island, Moree, Narrabri, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga)
  • REX (Regional Express) (Albury, Armidale, Ballina, Bathurst, Cooma, Dubbo, Griffith, Lismore, Merimbula, Mildura, Moruya, Narrandera, Orange, Parkes, Wagga Wagga)
  • Virgin Blue (Adelaide, Ballina, Brisbane, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Perth, Sunshine Coast, Townsville)

[edit] Qantas Terminal 3

  • Qantas (Domestic) (Adelaide, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Perth, Sunshine Coast, Townsville)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

es:Aeropuerto Internacional Kingsford Smith fr:Aéroport de Sydney ko:킹스포드 스미스 국제공항 id:Bandara Internasional Kingsford Smith ja:シドニー国際空港

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