Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport Guide

Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport sits 9 kilometres south of Sydney's city centre in Mascot, on the shores of Botany Bay. It is Australia's busiest airport and one of the longest continuously operated commercial airports in the world, having opened on 9 January 1920. It handled 41.4 million passengers in 2024 and 42.54 million in 2025, including a record 17.17 million international passengers.

The airport operates under a night curfew between 11 PM and 6 AM, set out in the Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995, with limited movements allowed in the shoulder periods of 11 PM to midnight and 5 AM to 6 AM. A separate cap of 80 aircraft movements per hour applies. These constraints limit capacity and have driven planning for Western Sydney International Airport at Badgerys Creek, which is scheduled to open to passengers on 25 October 2026.

Sydney Airport Corporation Limited operates the airport under a 99-year lease from the Commonwealth, taken up on privatisation in 2002. The airport covers 907 hectares and has three passenger terminals: Terminal 1 for international flights, and Terminals 2 and 3 for domestic and regional flights. Qantas operates from Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, while Virgin Australia and Jetstar use Terminal 2.