Inside Sydney International Airport as overseas flights resume

Not a french fry or a Big Mac in sight, this McDonald’s has had a pretty grim 18 months. But in the next few days, all will change.

Not a french fry or a Big Mac in sight, this McDonald’s is far from the McHappy restaurant it’s meant to be.

Typically serving tens of thousands of customers about to step foot on a plane heading on their European adventures or for business in Singapore, the restaurant at Sydney’s International Airport — along with neighbouring retailers and cafes — has been forced to shut up shop for the majority of the past two years.

With overseas travel grinding to a close throughout the pandemic, the past several months have seen just 1 per cent of pre-pandemic foot traffic pass through the airport.

Sydney International Terminal has used the past year and a half to have a major facelift.

But with international travel set to restart on November 1 for vaccinated Australia residents, the burners are back and the golden arches will be switched on once again as the international terminal welcomes back passengers.

Despite the shutdown of businesses within the international terminal, it has meant focus on giving the airport a much-needed facelift has gone full steam ahead, with the completed product expected in the mid to later months of 2022.

McDonalds will be firing up the burner from next week.

The pandemic has left this McDonalds looking pretty sad.

More than $8 million has been spent on passenger bathroom upgrades alone – around 300,000 square metres of the terminal has also had a lick of paint.

The baggage system has also been fine tuned to help the terminal handle up to 40,000 outbound bags and 40,000 inbound bags daily when passenger numbers inch towards pre-pandemic levels once again.

Outside, the terminal will also receive an exterior makeover — with the forecourt area to feel like the city, and have an instant connection to arriving in Sydney.

Passengers need to show proof of vaccination as a condition of entry into duty free.

The airport is covered in signage showing reminding people of the health advice.

“It won’t feel like an airport,” Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert told news.com.au.

“We are ripping out a whole heap of stuff that’s cluttering the space … we will put grass in and remove a whole heap of infrastructure and make it feel like a really beautiful open space. “They [passengers] will come through those arrival gates and thing, wow, my holiday has started. You start breathing as soon as you arrive.”

Sydney International Terminal has been operating at a one per cent level for the past several months.

Mr Culbert said the decision to really ramp up interior changes kicked into gear in 2020 when it became clear the pandemic — and subsequent international travel ban restrictions — weren’t going anywhere.

“We have more than 30km of conveyor belts that sit beneath the surface at the airport,” he explained.

“We have overhauled that system which we couldn’t ordinarily do when we are busy and we can’t ever take that system offline.”

The flight board should look a little busier than this from next week.

Mr Culbert said along with the logistic updates around the airport, the major changes to the retail space will be in line with new demands from passengers in a post-pandemic world.

“I think in a post-Covid world expectations will be different around health and cleanliness, and we want to make sure the airport feels like a really safe and clean place to go to.”

The overall feel of the terminal has a more up-market feel, with the pandemic resulting in more work around creating a “luxury boutique mall” of 12 high-end brands throughout the airport — which now has a 10 metre high ceiling.

Some of the retailers opening in 2022 include Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Dior, Moncler, Loewe, Celine, Bottega Veneta, Prada, Balenciaga, Gentle Monster, and another two yet to be announced.

Inside the updated international terminal.

Mr Culbert said the “anchor” of the terminal’s shopping experience will be the Louis Vuitton store, which will be the brand’s first travel retail store in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest stand-alone luxury store in the airport.

“That’s the part of the enhanced travel experience passengers will want,” Mr Culbert explained, noting some stores will be open from November 1 while others will gradually reopen as foot traffic increases.

© Kurt Ams

“The retailers are starting to do their fit-outs, and while reopening will be phased, by middle of next year it should all be done.

“We have now got all the major luxury brands.”

Excitement is certainly back in the air, however reaching the sort of passenger figures experienced in 2019 won’t happen overnight.

Parts of the terminal will not reopen until mid-2022.

“What we are seeing with forward seat capacity from Sydney, we think we will be upwards of 60 per cent recovered by the end of the year,” Mr Culbert predicted.

“International will be a bit slower. We will be around 20 or 30 per cent recovered by the end of the year and growing from there into the new year.”

The airport boss said there is still apprehension when it comes to international flights, because airlines and passengers alike are still coming to terms with the new settings around overseas travel.

“They want clarity on the testing regimens and what restrictions might apply,” Mr Culbert said.

Sydney International Terminal has used the past year and a half to have a major facelift.

“A huge ability to travel in and out of Australia was the removal of quarantine [in NSW]. Any form of quarantine is a demand killer, and that’s for Australians going out and coming back and for people coming here in general. We are going to see a significant amount of people want to travel into and out of Australia.

“I think it’s going to be hard for jurisdictions that are more stringent, because people are going to exercise choice on ease of travel. That’s not just here that’s globally. We are going to be in a global competition for customers.”