Man goes to wrong Sydney after spectacular flight fail

A US man who thought he booked a flight to Sydney was shocked when looked out his window to see a mountain covered in snow.

It was a tale of two Sydneys.

A New York man’s dream of an idyllic Australian getaway crashed and burned spectacularly after a misunderstanding saw him flying to Montana in the US instead.

Kingsley Burnett, 62, said he saw a mountain covered in white snow as the plane flew over the destination and that’s when he knew he was in trouble.

The New Yorker had reportedly planned on flying to Australia, where he was slated to take a cruise departing from Sydney.

But he soon realised things had gone horribly wrong when he landed in Billings and saw snow and a small Cape Air Jet waiting to fly him to Sidney, Montana, New York Post reports.

Kingsley Burnett, 62, had planned to take a cruise departing from Sydney, Australia – but ended up in Sidney, Montana. Picture: KTVQ

For reference, Sidney boasts just over 6000 people while Sydney’s population is 5.3 million.

Mr Burnett said he had become confused by the airport codes while booking the flight.

“It’s a matter of acronyms. The S-Y-D as opposed to S-D-Y. Somebody has to fix that,” he told Montana TV station KTVQ, referring to Sydney and Sidney’s respective abbreviations.

It might seem odd that the traveller wasn’t tipped off by the massive price difference. However, Mr Burnett, who was trying to be frugal with his trip planning, said he had just been happy to find such a “bargain” for a transoceanic flight.

Kingsley Burnett with Carol Castellano, the American Airlines agent who helped him following the flight mix-up. Picture: KTVQ

Mr Burnett, who had planned to travel cheap, was ecstatic after finding what he thought was a great bargain on a long-haul flight. Picture: KTVQ

With no plans to visit Sydney’s stateside homophone, Mr Burnett visited the American Airlines ticket desk in Billings, where an agent named Carol Castellano helped sort out his flight fiasco.

“Kingsley came, and he goes, ‘I’ve got a problem,’” Ms Castellano said.

After learning of his plight, she realised the New Yorker wouldn’t have time to make his Australian cruise.

He realised something was wrong when he saw snow. Picture: KTVQ

So she booked him a return flight to New York, as well as accommodation for the night.

Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time that inn manager Shelli Mann had observed such a mix-up.

“This is the second time we’ve had a guest that was trying to get to Sydney, Australia,” she said.

Despite accidentally flying to the wrong hemisphere, Mr Burnett said he’s just grateful that Ms Castellano was able to help him out.

“Montana didn’t have kangaroos. It had Carol. And that was good enough for me,” he said, noting he rescheduled his Australian trip for June.

The 62-year-old isn’t the first person to fly to the wrong Sydney. In 2017, 18-year-old Milan Schipper of Vaassen, Netherlands, prompted facepalms around the globe after accidentally travelling to Sydney in Nova Scotia, Canada, instead of the intended Australian destination.

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished here with permission