Sydney Airport braces for 2.4 million Easter travellers as airlines work to fix lost luggage rates

The nation’s biggest airport promises it is ready for the biggest crowds in four years as airlines warn of ‘unacceptably high’ mishandled baggage rates.

Sydney Airport is expecting its biggest Easter holiday crowds since 2019 as international airlines warn of “unacceptably high” mishandled baggage rates.

Around 2.4 million people are set to pass through Sydney’s three terminals between April 3 and 23, including 1.5 million domestic travellers and 850,000 international passengers.

The figures represent 90 per cent of pre-pandemic traffic, and Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbert said they were well-prepared thanks to a strong workforce recovery.

“We’re at a point now where 95 per cent of all domestic passengers are getting through security in less than five -minutes and the remaining 5 per cent are getting through in less than 15 minutes and that’s been very consistent in the last few months,” Mr Culbert said.

“Despite the steep airfares, it’s clear that many Australians are prioritising an Easter holiday.”

While domestic travellers were tipped to be up 9 per cent on last year, international passenger volumes were forecast to be more than double what they were during Easter 2022.

“Across markets like India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Canada we will have more airline capacity in April than we did at any point in 2019,” said Mr Culbert.

“This demonstrates Sydney’s enduring popularity as a destination and the impact of our joint commitment with the NSW government to the aviation attraction fund.”

The $60m fund provided incentives for international airlines to return to Sydney after withdrawing during the pandemic.

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Domestic travellers with carry-on luggage only were encouraged to arrive at the airport an hour before boarding time, while those with checked luggage should allow two hours.

International travellers should get to Sydney’s T1 three hours before flight time, to allow plenty of time for check-in, security and customs.

Behind the scenes, international airlines were working with Sydney and other airports in an effort to reduce mishandled baggage rates for travellers.

The Board of Airline Representatives of Australia, whose 32 members include Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, United, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand, warned rates remained above pre-pandemic levels.

BARA chief executive Stephen Pearse said the problem was not isolated to one airport, one airline or one ground handling company.

“It’s not a satisfactory outcome right now, but it is a pretty complicated issue and there are lots and lots of stakeholders involved,” Mr Pearse said.

“So rather than just bandy about high numbers, we’re trying to be more collaborative and instructive to make it better for everybody.”

He said every bag checked into a flight, passed through a number of systems before reaching the aircraft, and then again at the other end.

“There are different layers of complexity to this. You might have a bag checked in for a straightforward return trip, but there are other bags where you might be connecting to or from a domestic service, and others connecting to another international service,” Mr Pearse said.

“Each one of those essentially still has to get to the customer at the end, but each one has a different process to achieve that outcome, so it does get quite complicated.

“What we’re trying to do is break that down and see what improvements are possible.”

Qantas’s most recent update suggested its mishandled baggage rate for domestic travellers was five in 1000, and six in 1000 for international passengers.

Both figures were well below last year’s peak of 12 in 1000 during the sudden ramp up in travel over Easter through to July.

Mr Culbert said the best indicator of mishandled bags at Sydney Airport was the “now almost empty” lost luggage rooms.

“This time last year our lost bag rooms were almost full, and now they’re almost empty,” he said.

“We have seen a significant improvement in outcomes over the last 12 months.”