SYDNEY AIRPORT: International changing from Passport first, to Security first
Sydney Airport will change its T1 International Terminal to reverse the order of immigration and security according to a report in ET.
Currently, you pass through immigration and passport control, via the automated gates first. Then join the line at the security area to X-RAY your bags, and yourself. Sometimes you just get the metal detectors.
Content of this Post:
Security Hall
Sydney Airport T1 International Terminal is set to change this so that all international departures go through a ‘Security Hall’. Then you proceed through automated immigration gates. That’s reversing the current order.
It’s not entirely clear why the reversal. A spokesperson for Sydney Airport says it will be done “in line with the Government’s mandated security requirements”. That includes “the introduction of new body scanners and CT machines with automated bag processing.” However, that does not really explain the reason for the reversal.
I’ve just transited a whole lot of airports in Europe, and I am pretty sure that everyone involves immigration first and then security. Certainly, my most recent airport experience at Charle de Gaulle, Terminal 1 did. Happy to hear from any readers who have had different experiences.
There is some sense to the change since it will mean that you will be processed the same way across Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney Airport, once it is complete. Security first, Passport second.
Recent European experience
Mind you, nearly every European airport we have moved through has not had 3D scanners. What’s worse is they seem to have eliminated any signage that explains what you need to remove from your luggage and what you don’t. Again at CDG, liquids needed to be removed, but computers didn’t. However, the same day at Marseille Airport, it was liquids and computers and iPads. They unbagged my laptop and opened the cover of my iPad before it went through the scanner.
I now just prepare for any option the airport chooses. I have my liquids all under 100ml, have them in a clear plastic ziplock bag, and make sure my iPad and laptop are easily removed from my carry-on.
When the changes happen at Sydney International
Sydney Airport is ‘targetting’ the fourth quarter of 2025. In plain speak that means they hope to have it finished by the end of 2025, but they ain’t promising anything.
2PAXfly Takeout
I don’t think I actually care which comes first at T1 International Terminal, passport or security. I just want security to be as efficient as the passport automated gates are now.
There is still an endless holdup at security with a mixture of scanners, so you are uncertain what you will need to separate from your luggage, and what dance you will need to do in the body scanners.
With Sydney Airport passenger traffic up to near pre-pandemic levels, providing a consistent experience at Sydney Airport could not be coming soon enough.
Rome was security, then immigration as of July 2024.
Thanks Rome. Noted.
You missed the closing single quotation mark in “‘Security Hall”.
Thanks Josh. Fixed!
I seem to recall that security comes first at MEL as well. Or did I imagine that?
Daniel, you are correct. The change in Sydney is so Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney airports all have similar procedures as stated in the story.
Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru is security first, immigration second where it comes to international departures. That’s because there’s an only security hall for all departures, domestic and international. Then, you go to the right if you fly domestic, or go to the left and pass through immigration if you fly international.
Other airports in Peru with international flights are Arequipa, Cusco, Trujillo and Chiclayo. Being Chiclayo my hometown, I have taken direct flights to Panama City from there, those being operated by Copa Airlines (Star Alliance member) Tuesdays and Fridays. Due to CIX (Chiclayo airport) being so small, you pass immigration first and security second, and immigration cabins are enabled only when Copa flights arrive or depart from there. I don’t know how is the arrangement when flying from Arequipa, Trujillo or Cusco. However, Trujillo’s airport is very similar to Chiclayo’s and both are operated by the same airport manager (Aeropuertos del Peru), so I bet you pass through immigration first and security second when you taje a JetSmart flight to Santiago de Chile, just like you do when taking a Copa flight from Chiclayo to Panama City.
In SJO (San Jose International Airport, in Costa Rica) and SCL (Santiago de Chile airport), you pass through immigration first and security second. I remember the same was on T2 of MEX. I can’t remember how it was on GRU (Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo), PTY (Tocumen Airport in Panama City) and BOG (Bogota Airport).
Hi Ruben,Thanks for taking the time to provide all that detail. I think you are on to something. When airports combine domestic and international operations in the one terminal, it makes sense to centralise security before immigration/passport control. In Melbourne this makes sense. However in Brisbane, they are physically separate terminals (you have to catch a bus between them) as they are in Sydney. On the other hand in Adelaide, domestic and international are in the same terminal, and security is first. Looks like there is no consistency one way or the other.