Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - BNE Airport - Open 24 Hours?

A few questions for any regular users of BNE Airport. I am looking at getting an international flight from BNE very early in the morning after a domestic connection the previous day. I am seriously considering by passing the payment and hassle of a hotel room for just a few hours, plus the cost of a taxi/rental car. I figure I can kill some times with internet and a few other things and not have the stress about making the flight on time.

- Has anyone been in the international terminal between 12am and 5am? Is it really open? I see some of the outlets within the terminal are open as late as 2am so there would have to be people around basically 24/7. Do you get hassled by anyone?

- I notice the Kingsford Smith Memorial is also open 24 hours. Has anyone been to it and is it walkable from either the domestic or international terminal?

- Any other advice? The INTL terminal (departure level before security) looks like a nice area to hang out (not sleep) but I don't want to plan to spend time there if I will be kicked out.

Thanks!

Hi VHOEJ

BNE International is open 24 Hours but most, if not all the shops wont be open 24 Hours.

There is an EK flight which departs at 02:45 daily then the next one, depending on the day, is at 5:15 or 7:45. If you went down to arrivals there's flights arriving at 1:25, 04:00, 06:10, 06:15, 06:20, 06:40 or 07:00 depending on the day.

Not sure if Kingsford Smith Memorial is open 24/7, however it's a fair walk from the terminal and it's one place I wouldnt want to be after dark.

Will you have luggage and when will you be there? There's a Formule 1 hotel near the airport which usually has rooms for under $100, which is what I'd do rather than hang out at an airport which can barely entertain you when its open. Either way you'll probably have to get a cab if arriving after 8PM.

Saying that BNE Int'l is a wonderful terminal, especially departures, its just that there isnt much to do there. It's definitely an O&D airport rather than a transit one.

It's unlikely you'll get kicked out if you have proof of an onward flight, just have your own supplies.

VHOEJ, can't offer personal experience, but you may find this site (http://www.sleepinginairports.net/) useful. Just click through to South Pacific/BNE.

Cheers

Thanks for the advice ^ Greatly appreciated :)

So I did stay in the terminal last night as planned (long story) but it went well. I was surprised how busy it was even at midnight with all the flights departing. The EK flight due to go at 3am didn't leave until 6am for some reason. There were probably at least 30 people around the departure level (not waiting for the EK flight) scattered around.

The only comment was the music - it was played quite loud during the night (some good songs, song terrible ones) but if you planned to sleep, you probably need noise cancelling headphones. I was trying not to sleep but napped for about 20 minutes and I found the music was soothing.

But yeah, the lack of anything being open was annoying. They could at least have vending machines on that level for drinks and snacks - SYD and MEL have them even couple of gates, the whole level had nothing. If they had that, you could buy cold water. So all in all, if you were going to be stuck somewhere, it wasn't a bad setup and there was plenty of lounges/seats to sleep easily.

I'm surprised to read you were able to stay in BNE.

I once spend the night in SYD and that wasn't as flash as your story... granted I was in the domestic terminal and come midnight, everyone using the FREE computer terminals near the check in counters were hearded down to this smallish room on the ground level, while the rest of the terminal was locked up by security. Not the best place to spend the night among all the backpackers and such. But having arrived on a very late flight with a very early departure the next morning + the train service to the city suspended for whatever reason it was the most sensible thing to do. Never again though :)

I think the difference is being 'open' 24 hours - SYD has its curfew so I know they do actually physically close and lock all the terminals between around midnight to 4am (for INTL terminal).

All the airline reps had gone home, the only actual official people in the terminal were the cleaners, and security guarding the depature escalators down to security. They do have plenty of lounges/seating to actual relax for a couple of hours. They also had the internet terminals still on (pay as you go) and the music over the intercom. As mentioned, probably the only thing lacking was vending machines.

Were there water fountains? I assume the lavs wen't closed at some point, so that worst case would be drinking from a bathroom sink.