Where Are Australia’s Best Airports?

21 responses to “Where Are Australia’s Best Airports?”

1. 

   zombiejesus

   April 12, 2013

   Sydney Airport is a lot better designed than Melbourne Airport. The terminals are more uniformly laid out and easier to navigate, and the rail link provides easy direct access to the CBD.

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   1. 

      single_malt

      April 12, 2013

      It still has a major drawback in that the domestic and international terminals are so far apart. Parking is pretty bad the the domestic terminal as well, although parking at the international terminal is much better now (if you’re prepared to pay their exorbitant prices).

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      1. 

         zombiejesus

         April 12, 2013

         The terminals being far apart is a down side, I agree. Parking has never been too bad at domestic when my colleague and I have driven in, but usually I just catch the train these days.

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2. 

   mdn

   April 12, 2013

   Perth Airport is an absolute mess, should be lower down the list.

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3. 

   blibster

   April 12, 2013

   Another silly survey.
   How can Amsterdam, Beijing and Heathrow rate higher than Singapore Changi, which doesn’t even make the top ten?

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   1. 

      chrisjager

      April 12, 2013

      Singapore Changi actually came first — that was a copy/paste error on my part. Table has been amended.

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4. 

   darren

   April 12, 2013

   Hobart airport wins in Australia. Hardly any lines, don’t have to walk for kilometers etc.

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   1. 

      jackscottau

      April 12, 2013

      Inside the airport, it’s wonderful, I agree. But the problem comes as soon as you step on to the curb: there’s no cheap, logical way to get to the city.

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5. 

   hellboy1975

   April 12, 2013

   I’ve been to all of them except Honolulu , Wellington and Auckland. Aside from the Gold Coast and Perth, there’s really not much separating them in my opinion.

   Adelaide being one of the newer terminals mentioned there always seems to be pretty quick and easy to get through, though that may be as much due to its size as much as it’s newness.

   Gold Coast airport is too small and always packed every time I seem to be there. Not sure how it rates so highly. Both Christchurch and Adelaide airports are much better.

   Perth definitely deserves to be down the bottom there.

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6. 

   poccari

   April 12, 2013

   putting my hat into the ring for Adelaide airport being higher than at least Sydney. It isn’t huge (you dont have to walk far to the gate when compared to Syd or Bne), domestic and international are in the same terminal so easy transfers, free wifi is great etc. I think Melbourne is needing to be higher than Sydney also. Only bad thing about Adelaide at teh moment is they’re re-doing the carpark/drop off ramps etc, which can make pick up and drop offs slightly congested at the moment.
   I wonder if this data was normalised somehow.

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   1. 

      mzantsi

      April 12, 2013

      And Adelaide has a $3 public transport bus ride into the city. That’s a real winner.

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7. 

   barb

   April 12, 2013

   Honolulu is kind of cool, with its wikiwiki bus going along the outside of the terminal, between international and domestic. I like it. Even if I’m just changing planes on my way between the US and Australia, it feels like a couple hours of tropical holiday to spend time there. (How many airports can credibly make THAT claim?) Plus, they have a roving pizza hut (pizza hut on a golf cart) if you’re absolutely starving and want something of a known (but not necessarily deluxe) quality level.

   Melbourne has sucky transport options, certainly. But inside the airport, it has decent access to gates with security lines shorter than those I find in Sydney, food options open most hours of the day, and Hotel Krispy Kreme as a cheapskate sleep option for those early flights (just be sure if you use Hotel KK that you purchase something from your full-service mini-bar, aka their takeaway counter, in the morning to ensure continued goodwill toward future guests).

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   1. 

      person

      April 12, 2013

      I personally am not a big fan of Honolulu, it is very antiquated, the way the gates are laid out is nonsensical, you have to walk through tons of open air areas to get to anywhere (You end up sweating up a storm before you even get on your not shorter than 4 hr long flight) and there is not enough seating inside the gates at times so you have to sit out in the hot and humid in between areas, and if it rains, good luck! I guess it must be ok if you’ve only been there once, but anymore than that and you’ll wish they demolished the whole thing and started again. Also operationally it’s a bit strange since it’s right next to the AirForce Base… whaaaatttt?

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      1. 

         barb

         April 12, 2013

         Each to their own, I suppose. I’ve flown through it 6 or 8 times — not a lot, but not once or twice, either. And I really like its un-airporty (well, at least as close to this as an airport can get), kind of folksy vibe. Proximity-wise, it’s got an interesting layover activity, too — Pearl Harbor is a short cab ride away, and you can go see it on a 4 hour layover, easily.

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8. 

   jjcoolaus

   April 12, 2013

   Sydney Airport is the best i’ve been to in Australia. The Free WiFi is very fast, there are a large number of shops and places to eat in every terminal, but the security screening is good for security, inconvenient for the passenger – I have an incident where my bag needs to be opened almost every time i go through it, and not because i’m doing the wrong thing. In one case they thought shaving gel (not foam) was an aerosol, several times they have mistaken my AM/FM travel radio for a laptop computer, and so on.

   Melbourne airport is difficult to navigate and in terms of shopping or eating it’s harder to find what you’re looking for. It needs a smartphone app or a map. It’s also surprising because everything is tiny and miniature in size compared to Adelaide or Sydney. It’s free wifi is the slowest i’ve seen in Australia. Even Maroochydore airport does better.

   Adelaide is a good airport, easy to get around, good but not great free wifi, and easy security screening. It has less choice in terms of eating and shopping, but the Virgin store in there has a very large selection of noise cancelling headphones and noise-isolating plug earphones in all sorts of price ranges, and all at prices only slightly more expensive than ebay (ignoring the fakes on ebay).

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9. 

   dmakovec

   April 12, 2013

   Shouldn’t one of the factors involved in deciding a good airport be whether planes can actually land at the thing on time? By that scale, Brisbane airport, now operating with a single runway, is a major FAIL. Just take a look at http://www.bne.com.au/arrivals-departures/arrivals-departures to see how many flights are listed as “delayed” or “rescheduled”.

   Oh yeah, and how about a public transport service to the airport that operates when the planes land? Last train leaves the domestic terminal 9:59pm on a weekday. Last plane lands 11:40pm.

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10. 

    jacksonbison

    April 12, 2013

    OK, this is f*ing stupid.

    I want to go to Perth, but can you drop me off in Brisbane, because the airport is 10 times better…

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11. 

    BradP

    April 12, 2013

    I have to disagree with both of you about Hobart. I was there earlier in the week and found getting to and from the airport by cab reasonably priced and relatively quick for the distance to cover to the city.
    However, once inside the terminal coming back, it was a good thing I was early; queue out the door for check in (Ok, the area is small) then a snake folding back on itself of people waiting to get through security to a “lounge” with few free seats and less free tables and announcements you had to strain to hear. Even some free WiFi would have sweetened things, but alas, no.
    All adds up to put it bottom of my list.

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12. 

    sydney2k

    April 13, 2013

    Where’s “Canberra. It’s an “international airport”, the catch is that it doesn’t get any international flights…

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    1. 

       hellboy1975

       April 13, 2013

       Canberra is to crap to make the top 10 I would expect! Definitely the worst Aussie airport I’ve been to…

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13. 

    drphil

    April 13, 2013

    Perth? Have these idiots been to perth airport? Not even the international terminal’s suitable for livestock!

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