Sydney Aiport Tours

[Harpoon]

Sydney Airport Tours

:: Airside Tarmac Tours ::

Has anyone done one of these tours of Sydney Airport?

I have a Saturday morning to kill by myself in a few weeks time in Syd for the weekend and thought it might be interesting! Though it does say no cameras

Anyone done it or something similar elsewhere? Worth the $47 or not? Price seems a bit steep for 90 mins

EDIT: Doh! typo in subject!

 

[serfty]

Did one of these as part of Ozfest II in 2005.

We found it very interesting.

And, yes no cameras. IIRC You go through T2 x-ray before boarding the Bus.

 

[Harpoon]

Did one of these as part of Ozfest II in 2005.

We found it very interesting.

And, yes no cameras. IIRC You go through T2 x-ray before boarding the Bus.

Thanks.... My main question is if you reckon it's worth the $47? I mean do you get a real 'experience' of the airport or do you just sit and look out the window? Do you get to see stuff you can't ordinarily see - eg baggage handling areas or.... inside a maint hanger? Cool stuff?

 

[ejb]

Thanks.... My main question is if you reckon it's worth the $47? I mean do you get a real 'experience' of the airport or do you just sit and look out the window? Do you get to see stuff you can't ordinarily see - eg baggage handling areas or.... inside a maint hanger? Cool stuff?

Hi,

I think it is worth the money. Mrs ejb sent me last year for my birthday and I had a great time.

You get to see the hangers (but not inside) you listen to ATC and learn about the systems of the airport.

You do just sit and look out of a window as you are not allowed off the bus but still a good hour and a half IMHO.

ejb

 

[serfty]

You basically do a "lap of the Airport" using the access roads. You do see stuff you would not otherwise have.

Plus it's fascinating watching/hearing aircraft operations take off from nearby. (a 747 takeoff and/or landing with 60 metres of where you are stationed is en experience).

 

[markis10]

It would be a good experience for those with an interest in aviation and worth it for the money, you might even be lucky to see something out of the ordinary, it does happen from time to time, such as horses getting loose or other livestock!

 

[munitalP]

It would be a good experience for those with an interest in aviation and worth it for the money, you might even be lucky to see something out of the ordinary, it does happen from time to time, such as horses getting loose or other livestock!

Look through the window into the Flounge and you might see some of the AFF regulars loose in the bar



Mr!

 

[Travel Guru]

I think it's definitely worth $47, especially if you're an aviation buff like myself.

I've not done this tour, but i've spent a fair bit of time airside where the public don't go as a TA, doing aircraft tours etc, and have always loved going behind the scenes.

TG

 

[Harpoon]

I think it's definitely worth $47, especially if you're an aviation buff like myself.

I've not done this tour, but i've spent a fair bit of time airside where the public don't go as a TA, doing aircraft tours etc, and have always loved going behind the scenes.

TG

Many of the regulars on this forum are mild aviation buffs at the very least. So yeah I'm a bit of a 'plane nut'.

Based on the positive feedback.... I think it sounds a go'er to do a tour assuming it's on that day and theres space for me! I hope theres some massive crosswinds on the day Would make for interesting viewing

P.S. - So I take it that the next AFF 'meet' will be an Airside Tour? hehe actually it's probably a very good idea for those of you that meet up regularly.... then a piss up in the F lounge afterwards

 

[Harpoon]

Wow!!

Did the tour on Saturday and it was really good. We follwed an air Canada 777 all the way down the taxi way to rwy 34L which was a big thrill to sit right behind it as it prepared to takeoff. Also sat right next to the mid point of the rwy to watch 744's take off on front of our nose. Truely a thrilling 2 hours. Highly recommend to anyone with any interest in aviation. Even the family in the group who knew little about aviation were squealing with delight every time we had a plane taxi past our nose. Oh and driving under the sq a380 was fun!!!

 

[tuapekastar]

Wow!!

Did the tour on Saturday and it was really good. We follwed an air Canada 777 all the way down the taxi way to rwy 34L which was a big thrill to sit right behind it as it prepared to takeoff. Also sat right next to the mid point of the rwy to watch 744's take off on front of our nose. Truely a thrilling 2 hours. Highly recommend to anyone with any interest in aviation. Even the family in the group who knew little about aviation were squealing with delight every time we had a plane taxi past our nose. Oh and driving under the sq a380 was fun!!!

Sounds like a great experience...one to add to the to-do list...

 

[somebol]

Wow!!

Did the tour on Saturday and it was really good. We follwed an air Canada 777 all the way down the taxi way to rwy 34L which was a big thrill to sit right behind it as it prepared to takeoff. Also sat right next to the mid point of the rwy to watch 744's take off on front of our nose. Truely a thrilling 2 hours. Highly recommend to anyone with any interest in aviation. Even the family in the group who knew little about aviation were squealing with delight every time we had a plane taxi past our nose. Oh and driving under the sq a380 was fun!!!

Wow..

I tried arranging a tour with them a couple of months back, but they never answered the phone and I left messages without any return call from them. Even went to their office and found it deserted.

How did you arrange the tour? did you call them or go via a tour operator.

 

[Harpoon]

Wow..

I tried arranging a tour with them a couple of months back, but they never answered the phone and I left messages without any return call from them. Even went to their office and found it deserted.

How did you arrange the tour? did you call them or go via a tour operator.

I booked it myself via their website which essentially emails them a webform. I then called them a few days later to confirm I was booked in (because I needed to schedule my flights differently if I couldn't do the tour) which they said yes! Then they also responded to my email with a booking confirmation.

They run 3 tours a day during the week (school kids) so their office is often unmanned when on tour. My impression is that it's a 2 man operation - the owner and the driver, so it's quite likely that the phone won't be answered if the owner is not there and the driver is busy on a tour.

Some other comments about the tour:

Bus is fantastic - big wide windows on a reasonably modern bus so regardless of your seat you could see everything. Also the driver commentated the whole time which was great, lots of facts and interesting information.

The best part about the tour, is the driver completely customizes it based on the active runways in use, and the traffic that's landing/departing.

For example on Saturday, the East/West RWY was in use due to high winds. However he noticed two large jets making their way to RWY 34L so he change it up so we could head down to the 34L with those jets for a big thrill. He radios the control tower and the operator calmly responds "follow air canada". Awsome! After those planes took off we then watched planes on the east west RWY for a while (mostly 737 and 767 with the odd A330 and 747. Then later he spotted a QF 744 heading to 34L as well, so he then back tracked a bit and parked next to the RWY34L to watch it take off. Magnificent.

Also toured the maintenance hangers for Qantas (we didn;t get out of the bus though), where some poor sucker was scrubbing the belly of a 744 with a hose and brush, I hate cleaning my car! Also in the hangers saw a QF767 with what looked like a D-check getting it's engines changed over. Also spotted a 747-300 getting some work done. On the way out we drove past the end of the east west rwy and had some planes landing right over our head. And also saw some papperazi waiting by the private jet hangers - anyone know which celebs are in sydney?

The only downside is no cameras which is a shame, but completely understandable in this day and age.

The only thing I would have loved to see but didn't - was the baggage handling, but because it's all indoors, it's a little hard to drive a bus in there.