Sydney Airport, Australia’s busiest international gateway, has thrown its weight behind the Federal Government’s plan to digitise arrival declarations. In a 13 July 2026 statement, CEO Scott Charlton said the switch to a QR-based form will help the airport handle projected growth to 72 million passengers annually by 2045 without building additional processing halls. The airport—already a partner in the ATD pilot—notes that SmartGate facial-recognition kiosks cut average processing times to under 40 seconds, but the paper card remained a bottleneck. Removing it will let arriving travellers proceed directly from biometric e-gates to baggage reclaim, a boon for tight domestic connections. Charlton argued that a seamless arrival is essential to Australia’s visitor economy: “For many visitors, Sydney is their first impression of Australia. A digital declaration card delivers a faster welcome while maintaining strong border security.” The airport is prepared to provide floor space, Wi-Fi capacity and staff training to support the 18-month roll-out. From a corporate-travel perspective, the endorsement signals that Australia’s major airports are aligned with government timelines and that minimal local disruption is expected during implementation. Mobility teams should nevertheless brief travellers to complete the ATD pre-flight to avoid queuing at manual assistance counters. Sydney joins the Australian Airports Association in lobbying for further reforms, including harmonised exit controls and biometric boarding, which could feature in the next round of border-technology funding.
Source: Sydney Airport
