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Works will soon begin on $200 million in upgrades to Sydney Airport’s T2 domestic terminal.
The major renovations, announced in November, will be the first to T2 in more than 30 years and will include overhauls to check-in, bag drop, and security areas, with the aim of getting passengers from kerb to gate within 15 minutes. Construction is slated to begin on 1 May.
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Around 17 million passengers use Terminal 2 every year, which was built in the 1990s to handle around eight million annual passengers. It currently hosts Virgin Australia, Jetstar, and regional airline services, and would be Australia’s fourth largest airport if it stood alone.
“Key features of the upgrade include self-service check-in kiosks and advanced bag drop systems, which will increase baggage processing rates by 300 bags per hour,” the airport said in a press release.
“New next-generation security technology and state-of-the-art scanners will allow passengers to leave laptops and aerosols in their hand luggage and almost double the capacity of each security lane from 235 to 500 passengers an hour.”
Rex and FlyPelican will temporarily relocate to the T3 domestic terminal from 8 April, with Jetstar to share Virgin’s check-in area from 28 April, to make room for the renovations.
Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton said that despite the disruption, the upgrades will ultimately “significantly improve the experience” and “position the airport for future growth”.
“We’ve made great progress on security recently, with all passengers clearing processing in less than 10 minutes, but the bottleneck at check-in can sometimes add 30 to 40 minutes. More kiosks and new automated bag drops will streamline the check-in process.
“The upgrade will be phased, with security set for completion by the end of the year and check-in works to be finished in late 2026. This means that for the next 18 months the journey through T2 will be a little different to what passengers are used to, and we encourage everyone to allow themselves plenty of time to get to the airport.
“We’re putting on extra staff to help passengers and we want to thank everyone in advance for their patience as we carry out these important upgrades to deliver a faster and more seamless travel experience.”
The T1 international terminal is also receiving upgrades, with 15 new screening lanes using CT technology expected to increase throughput from 4,500 to 5,850 passengers per hour. Seven international departure gates will also be refreshed, with the airport having said they will provide more comfort to waiting passengers.
