Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport is Australia's principal international gateway, sited on Botany Bay in the Mascot area a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. It offers three parallel and crossing hard-surfaced runways, full ILS coverage and a complete suite of approach, tower and ground frequencies, making it one of the busiest and most demanding controlled aerodromes a simulator pilot can fly into in the southern hemisphere.
Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport, known locally simply as Sydney Airport, is the major international and domestic hub serving New South Wales' capital. Built on the shores of Botany Bay at Mascot, it combines long-haul international operations with dense domestic traffic, and for the simulator pilot it represents a busy Class C controlled airport with parallel and crossing runways, full ILS approaches and continuous radar and tower control.
The airport lies at approximately 33 degrees 56.8 minutes south, 151 degrees 10.6 minutes east, at an elevation of 13 feet above mean sea level, on the shore of Botany Bay in the Mascot area of Sydney, New South Wales. It sits within controlled airspace served by its own approach and departure control, tower and ground frequencies, reflecting its status as a major international aerodrome close to the Sydney city centre.
Sydney offers three physical runways. The main north-south runway, 16R/34L, is a hard, lit surface 12,725 feet long with ILS in both directions. A second parallel north-south runway, 16L/34R, is 7,242 feet long, also hard-surfaced, lit and equipped with ILS. The east-west runway, 07/25, is 8,287 feet long on the 07 threshold and 7,959 feet on the 25 threshold, hard-surfaced, lit, and served by ILS in both directions. Note that the longest runway, 34L, extends to 13,007 feet.
Sydney provides a full range of radio services for arriving and departing traffic. Approach control operates on 135.1 MHz, with departure on 123 MHz. The tower frequency is 120.5 MHz and ground movements are handled on 121.7 MHz. Clearance delivery is available, and the ATIS broadcasts on 115.55 MHz. A further frequency, 133.8 MHz, is listed for CLD, and 1123.5 MHz is used for RAAF air operations. All runways are equipped with instrument landing systems, supporting instrument approaches in both directions on each runway.
As a major controlled international aerodrome, Sydney does not operate informal visual circuits in the manner of a general aviation airfield; all arriving and departing traffic is worked by approach, departure, tower and ground control on the frequencies listed above, with clearances and sequencing required for movement in the surrounding controlled airspace.
The airport takes its name from the pioneering Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, and the site was historically known as RAAF Station Mascot, reflecting its early military and aviation origins in the Mascot area of Sydney.
Sydney continues to operate as a large international airport with scheduled airline service across three runways, all fitted with lighting and ILS to support operations in a wide range of weather conditions. It remains one of the busiest aerodromes in Australia, handling substantial international and domestic traffic through its controlled airspace.
