Sydney’s Air Terminal One of World’s Busiest

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27395, 7 July 1954, Page 6

Sydney’s Air Terminal One of World’s Busiest

When the Aotearoa 111, flagship of Tasman Empire Airways Ltd.’s fleet of DC-6 airliners, flew from Sydney to Harewood last week, Christchurch was linked for the first time on a regular air service with one of the world’s busiest airports. Sydney (Kingsford Smith) airport, as it is officially known, in 1952 carried more traffic than any airport in the world outside the United States of America. It was even busier than London airport. With an area of 1486 acres Kingsford Smith airport lies close to Botany Bay and is about 20 minutes by car from the centre of Sydney. The drive to the city from the airport is not attractive. The route passes factories and industrial buildings and grimy congested houses. So far this year the airport has handled close on 500,000 passengers travelling on international, inter-state and intra-state air lines. In 1953, 892,790 passengers passed through the airport, an average of 2446 a day and an increase of 3.3 per cent, on the traffic carried in the preceding year. Six international airlines operate from the international terminal at Mascot and last year they carried 52,703 persons to and from the airport. Fiftyeight nationalities were represented among the 5010 non-Britlsh citizens who travelled in the year. Americans totalled 2146, Dutch 630, Chinese 329, Thailanders 238, French 234, Japanese 161, Indonesians 151, Indians 127, Germans 106, and Swiss IQ2. Countries with only one representative included Colombia, Egypt. Libya, Lithuania and Venezuela. There was also one Vietnamese and one Vatican citizen. A very necessary officer at the airport is an interpreter. For the same year overseas aircraft operating from the airport handled 1684 tons of freight—a daily average of 4.6 tons. There are no fewer than four internal terminals at Kingsford Smith airport. Two of the terminals handle inter-state traffic and two intra-state. Last year 670,674 passengers-—1837 a day—passed through the airport on inter-state airlines and there were 169,413 intra-state passengers (a daily average of 464).

Daily Movements Every day at Mascot there are six or seven aircraft flying in or leaving on international services. During a week 27 aircraft come in from points all over the world on scheduled flights and 27 leave. On internal services there are on an‘ average 120 flights in and out of Mascot in a single day. In all about 2750 people travel to or from the airport each day. Figures for 1953 show that for the whole year 48,334 aircraft arrived or departed from the field—an average of 132 a day. In the same time 8,293,713 gallons of aviation fuel were used at the airport—& daily average of 22,722 gallons—and 149,016 gallons of aviation oil. In the last five or six years great changes have been made at Mascot. They have involved the expenditure of £7,000,000 or £8,000,000. In 1945 Dr. K. N. E. Bradfield, novf director of airports in the Australian Department of Civil Aviation, drew up plans for an international airport at Sydney. In 1946 the Federal Cabinet approved the reconstruction plan involving the diversion of Cook’s river, the construction of new runways to meet the needs of the most modem aircraft, and the installation of modern instrument landing systems. The work began in the following year and has been continued without interruption to the normal use of the airport. The diversion of the river has allowed an extra 1000 acres to be added to the airport. A racecourse, two golf courses, a polo ground, three cricket grounds and a gun club are now part of the airfield. To facilitate the work electric dredges were built. The diversion cut was one and a quarter miles long and 500 feet wide. One million cubic yards of material was taken from the diversion cut, 5,000,000 cubic yards of sand was dredged from the bay, 1^250,000 yards of ash was brought in from the Bunnerong power house, and 250,000 tons of crushed rock

was carted into the airport for use on runways. A 180-ton compactor was used to compact the crushed rock and ash on the runways and then 15,000 tons of hot mix bitumen was used for the surface paving of runways and taxiways. To date 13,500 feet of runways have been.built and 20,000 feet of taxiways. The work has included the laying of 25,000 feet of drains. The first stage of the grand scheme for reconstructing the airport has now been practically completed. The second stage includes the provision of new terminal buildings. It is planned to incorporate all the domestic airlines in the one terminal. The execution of other phases of the plan further to improve the airport will probably depend on future developments in aviation. Birth of/Mascot In April. 1921, Captain E. C. Johnston, at that time superintendent of aerodromes for the newly formed Civil Aviation Branch of the Defence Department and now assistant director-general (regulatory) of the Commonwealth Department of Civil Aviation, made an aerial survey of sites around Sydney that might be suitable for an aerodrome. He reported that the only suitable site within a convenient distance of the city was at Mascot. It was then being used by the Australian Aircraft and Engineering Company, the Commonwealth’s only aircraft manufacturers of the period, who were engaged on their first and only production programme—six Avro 504 K's for the Royal Australian Air Force. On the recommendation of the then controller of Civil Aviation, Colonel Horace Brinsmead, 161 acres of this land was acquired in June, 1921. Later that year preparation of the aerodrome for the inauguration of a regular air service from Adelaide to Sydney began, but operations on the route did not begin till June 2, 1924. Two days later Mascot was the scene of the arrival of the first aircraft to reach Sydney on a regular service flight. In March, 1928, W. J. (Bert) Hinkler landed at Mascot at the end of his record solo flight from England in a light plane. An enthusiastic crowd in welcoming Hinkler damaged the boundary fences of the aerodrome. These scenes were repeated in May, 1930, when Amy Johnson landed after her memorable solo flight from England—the firrt flight over the route to be accomplished by a woman. The same month the Federal Cabinet approved the construction of a gravel runway 500 yards long and 25 yards wide, the plans including provision for two additional runways. In September, 1935, Mascot was declared “a landing place for vessels engaged in navigation by air, arriving from overseas.” Early in September, 1936, the Minister of Defence, Sir Archdale Parkhill, announced in the House of Representatives that Mascot aerodrome would henceforth be known as Kingsford Smith airport.

Airport Today Today the airport has two main runways 7896 feet and 3930 feet long. Navigation facilities are a visual-aural range, a Homer or non-directional beacon, a responder beacon, a twin locator approach system and tower area and approach control. Full instrument landing system equipment will, it is expected, be operating on the north-south runway by the end of this year. Distance measuring equipment has been installed but is not yet in operational use. Calvert cross bar high intensity approach lighting has been installed and will be in operation soon. For about six months a new control tower, the most modern in the Southern Hemisphere, has been in use. On an average over the last five years Sydney’s airport has been closed only about 130 hours a year. Sydney’s bad weather is usually of a squally character and in between squalls it is generally possible to bring in aircraft held in “banks" over the airport. Rarely do they have to be diverted to other airfields.