Qantas has big plans for a ‘mega’ terminal at Sydney airport, combining both international and domestic into a singular terminal, and talks have already begun.
The proposed terminal would be available to international flights from Qantas and its Oneworld members as well as Emirates, with the current T1 international terminal remaining for other airlines.
CEO, Qantas, Alan Joyce, said the airline would be willing to make a substantial investment into the new terminal, including lounges – which would be part of a recent global overhaul announcement.
“There is a future that we have in mind and we’re talking to Sydney Airport (about it),” Joyce said on Monday during a speech to the American chamber of commerce in Sydney.
“We would like the domestic and international terminals to come together, because that is our biggest pain point… connecting domestically would be a lot easier than it is now,” added Joyce, calling the current system of shuttle bus transfers between T1 and T3 “painful”.
“They would have to expand where we are on the domestic side – there’s a whole series of hangers and land there, they could expand into that, and create a Qantas international terminal for Qantas and its partners.”
Sydney Airport scrapped their ‘2033 master plan’, stating, “after consulting with stakeholders and the community our concept has moved on from being an alliance concept to one based around specific airline requirements and (passenger) transfer flows.”
Rather, the latest ‘2039 master plan’ presents an unchanged T1 terminal with T2 and T3 being upgraded to integrate international, domestic and regional operations.
