For folks that have made the connection with weapons on an international flight arriving in Sydney and then making a domestic connection for a flight to Darwin, is 2 hours and 20 minutes a realistic amount of time to clear immigration, get luggage, clear weapons, recheck luggage and get from the international terminal to the domestic terminal for the Darwin flight?

Thanks in advance.

Mike,
If you scroll down a couple of items in this forum to Mark Young's topic there is commentary on a very similar situation. I think the consensus was that much less than 3 hours was pretty risky, and in Mark's case he was not taking a firearm.
Otherwise I cannot comment from personal experience other than to say I have been through Sydney Airport a couple of times, several years ago now, when it was so busy it bordered on chaotic.

Mike,

It's a better connection LAX-Brisbane-Darwin with 2 hours 50 minutes between the Brisbane flight and Darwin flight. Graham says the process will be quicker in Brisbane also as compared to Sydney.

Mark

Mark, United now has a direct flight from Houston to Sydney and three of the four folks traveling live within a couple of hours of Houston. The United flight arrives in the morning at 7:00 AM. The connection to Darwin is at 9:20 AM. There is another flight to Darwin at 8:30 PM. We are thinking we might be better off to take the evening flight and spend the day exploring Sydney. Sounds like most folks recommend at least 3 hours to make a connection in Sydney.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
For folks that have made the connection with weapons on an international flight arriving in Sydney and then making a domestic connection for a flight to Darwin, is 2 hours and 20 minutes a realistic amount of time to clear immigration, get luggage, clear weapons, recheck luggage and get from the international terminal to the domestic terminal for the Darwin flight?

Thanks in advance.

Possible but not realistic.

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Mike,

It's a better connection LAX-Brisbane-Darwin with 2 hours 50 minutes between the Brisbane flight and Darwin flight. Graham says the process will be quicker in Brisbane also as compared to Sydney.

Mark

Yes... this Brisbane airport has their cats it one box.

Firstly, let me note that it has been four seasons since I processed import/export permits for clients.

The information I provide is not meant to over-ride advice provided by your outfitters,
our requirements change on a regular basis and my information may, more than likely, be out of date.

Secondly, your information and direction for Import/Export SHOULD COME DIRECTLY FROM THE OUTFITTER YOU HAVE BOOKED WITH. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. IF YOU HAVE BOOKED WITH A COMPETANT OUTFITTER THEY WILL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS EXPECTED. FOLLOW THEIR ADVICE TO THE LETTER.
If they are telling you subversively to avoid Sydney International HEED THAT ADVICE.

Back when I was booking hunts we would advise hunters to avoid Sydney International like THE PLAGUE !!!!

The Airport Terminal is considered Federal Land.
Should you expect to clear Customs in Sydney then you used to be (this MAY be redundant now) expected to provide a N.S.W's Firearms License.
In other words if you expect to convince Sydney Customs to release your firearm to you at Sydney Airport they will expect you to have a license for THAT STATE which is N.S.W.

A buffalo hunting operator based in Northern Territory will most likely NOT have the facility to be able to process a N.S.W Firearms license for you as he is operating in a completely different State/Territory.
He will provide you with a Temporary Visitors License for the Northern Territory, which is where you will be hunting.
This problem has existed and is specific to N.S.W/Sydney Customs for YEARS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I well remember the late Matt Graham trying to explain all of this right here on the AR forums years ago, to little avail.

One year in particular N.T Police had a staff member on the phone to Sydney Customs for almost the entire N.T hunting seasons trying to resolve issues with inbound overseas hunters trying to clear N.S.W Customs or connecting to domestic flights.

Forget what is convenient or cheap in terms of flights.

Fly Dallas to Brisbane to Darwin or Gove and you will not have to worry about any of this.

Fly in to Sydney International and good luck.

P.S when returning your B709A forms to your outfitters they cannot and will not be held responsible for incorrect information. Make damn sure you get the serial numbers for your firearm EXACTLY CORRECT.
I know, sounds easy doesn't it, well if I had a buck for all of the hours I've had to spend on the phone to Customs agents trying to explain how a hunter could miss-quote the serial number on his own firearm well then I wouldn't need to go to work next week.

Talk to your outfitters BEFORE you book your flights and I would be very surprised if they don't try and strongly steer you away from Sydney International.

That's just my .20c worth.

To be clear, we are not being advised by the outfitter to avoid the airport in Sydney, we are simply being advised to allow 3 hours for the connection. The outfitter actually indicated that he thought we would be fine with the 2 hour and 20 minute connection. We are the ones that are paranoid about cutting it too close.

Mike,

Waiting for the evening flight to Darwin seems like the best bet to avoid any angst about making your connecting flight to Darwin. If your going to arrive a day early and overnight Darwin two nights as Graham has suggested your going to be good.

Mark

I need to sort this one out myself. We are headed that way in August.

Honestly and accurately from someone who was just there....who the F... knows, you certainly can not depend on any time frame, so the answers you get will not be accurate at all, it all depend on the airlines.

There is no more Dallas to Brisbane flight. It’s been replaced with DFW to SYD round trip. If you want to fly to Brisbane you will have to leave LAX. I would never ever fly IAH to SYD on United. Take QANTAS either Premium Eco or Business, it’s a very nice A380. If you have to leave IAH look at Air New Zealand, they have an excellent Premium Eco product.

Friend Tysue on here. Flew: Baltimore to Dallas, then Quantas to LAX and on to Brisbane last Aug.
Decent flight. Didn't take any guns.

George

Gents.
I don’t think the issue here is choice of airline. Most offer a nice selection of accomodations for long haul comfort.
The potential problem is pushing the envelope at Sydney airport.
Realistically, why would you court problems before your hunt has even begun ?
Be mindful that delays could happen due to congestion and process complications so minimise your exposure accordingly.
Sydney or Brisbane are nice places to overnite if necessary but Brisbane would be my choice for minimal potential inconvenience irrespective of the source.

Thanks for the feedback. We are looking into just taking the later flight to Darwin and spending the day in Sydney. With United offering a direct flight to Sydney from Houston on a Dreamliner versus making a connection in LA for an Airbus flight to Brisbane . . . we plan to just allow plenty of time for the connection in Sydney.

That's the best idea yet.

Good luck and have fun. Tell us how it turns out along with some pictures of course.

George

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Thanks for the feedback. We are looking into just taking the later flight to Darwin and spending the day in Sydney. With United offering a direct flight to Sydney from Houston on a Dreamliner versus making a connection in LA for an Airbus flight to Brisbane . . . we plan to just allow plenty of time for the connection in Sydney.

There’s an excellent train service that departs from right under the terminal. You’ll have to change trains at the central station to get down to the harbour but it’s an easy trip if not undertaken at business commuter times. Tickets are dispensed by man or machine and the latter takes cards. Enjoy.

if i was in town I'd show you the highlights but I'll be away
in any case I'll send you a list of things to see .