Watching Sydney live
Australia's busiest airport: two parallel runways reaching out into Botany Bay, and a third across them.
The layout
Sydney Kingsford Smith stands on the northern shore of Botany Bay, eight kilometres south of the city. Two parallel runways run roughly north to south and both reach out into the bay on reclaimed land: 16R/34L, at nearly 4,000 metres the longest, and the shorter 16L/34R to the east. A third runway, 07/25, crosses the field from east to west. The international terminal, T1, sits on the west side of the field; the domestic terminals, T2 and T3, are on the east side, across the runways from it, with the train running beneath both.
From above, the two long runways pointing out into the water are the airport's signature; aircraft landing on the 34s pass low over the bay before the wheels touch.
How the flow works
Sydney runs a set of runway modes chosen for noise sharing as much as wind, and switches between them through the day. In the busiest mode aircraft land on the 34s from over the bay and depart northwards over the city; in others they arrive from the north over the suburbs and depart southwards over the water. Runway 07/25 comes into use in strong westerlies and in the quieter modes that spread the noise east and west.
A curfew closes the airport to jets from eleven at night until six in the morning, so the map is quiet overnight and the first international arrivals line up over the bay at dawn.
What to watch for
Qantas and Virgin Australia dominate with 737s and A320-family aircraft on the Melbourne and Brisbane shuttles, among the busiest routes anywhere, while Qantas's A380s, 787s and A330s and the Asian and Gulf carriers fill the international terminal in the morning arrival wave and the evening departures. Jetstar and Rex add colour, and the freighters use the north-east corner.
The Shep's Mound spotting hill on the east side and the beach at Kyeemagh under the 34L approach are the classic views; in the miniature, watch the 34s from over the bay as the arrivals come in one after another.
More airports
- LAXLos Angeles International AirportFour parallel runways beside the Pacific, and the busiest airport on the US west coast.
- ORDChicago O'Hare International AirportEight runways, two giant hubs, and weather that keeps everyone on their toes.
- ATLHartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International AirportThe busiest airport on Earth: five parallel runways and an arrival every minute.
- DXBDubai International AirportA380s all day at the busiest international hub in the world.
- LHRLondon Heathrow AirportTwo runways running flat out, Terminal 5 at the west end.
- JFKJohn F. Kennedy International AirportCrossing runway pairs on Jamaica Bay, the AirTrain circling the terminals.
- SANSan Diego International AirportOne runway between the bay and downtown, and the steepest approach in the country.
- AMSAmsterdam Airport SchipholSix runways four metres below sea level, and a fifteen-minute taxi to the Polderbaan.
- DFWDallas/Fort Worth International AirportSeven runways on a site the size of Manhattan, Skylink threading the half-moon terminals.
- HNDTokyo Haneda AirportAsia's busiest airport: four runways on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, one standing on piers.
- BKKSuvarnabhumi AirportThree parallel runways around one vast terminal on the marsh east of the city.
- GRUSão Paulo/Guarulhos International AirportSouth America's busiest airport: two parallel runways on the plateau north-east of the biggest city in the hemisphere.
- SYDSydney Kingsford Smith AirportAustralia's busiest airport: two parallel runways reaching out into Botany Bay, and a third across them.
- SINSingapore Changi AirportThree parallel runways on reclaimed land at the eastern tip of the island, and the best-run hub in the world.
- HKGHong Kong International AirportThree parallel runways on an island built for the purpose, between the sea and the mountains of Lantau.