1972: The Concorde arrives in Sydney (as covered by "The Sun Herald")

My 2015 entry on the 1972 visit by the Concorde has proven to a popular entry with visitors to this blog. A few months ago, I landed clippings from its arrival on June 18, 1972. Below is coverage from The Sun Herald (19 June, 1972).

20 000 watched proceedings in and around Sydney Airport. There were also a group that gathered to protest citing concerns over noise (and it's sonic boom) that the plane generated. 

Related Entry

1972: The Concorde arrives in Sydney

Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection
or reload the browserDisable in this text fieldEditEdit in GingerEdit in Ginger×

1965: Possible Combined Terminal at Sydney Airport

I recently located a newspaper report relating to a proposal for a combined International-Domestic Terminal at Sydney Airport along those seen today at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne and Adelaide Airport.

It appears that the northwestern section of the airport had been selected as the site for the new terminal, where the new International Terminal would be built and opened in 1970.

Below is the article from The Daily Telegraph dated June 8 1965.

On the same page, there were also concerns over the development of the modern facilities at Sydney Airport and that Melbourne's new Tullarmarine Airport would be completed before Sydney Airport. Sydney Airport did open ahead of Tullarmarine airport in 1970.

It would have been interesting had the Federal Government gone for the combined terminal option, especially if extensions had to occur in the years ahead. The space where the International Terminal is located is tight as it is today. Imagine sharing it with the Domestic Terminal.

We could have ended up even with separate terminals for separate airlines as seen in numerous airports. Sydney Airport's layout would have made this challenging.

Interesting to note in the article of a possible rail link to where the Domestic Terminals are located today, which was to be linked to a future eastern suburbs railway line. The Airport Line (2000) would eventually see a station built there along with the international terminal. It linked the city, but instead of serving the eastern suburbs, it serves the western suburbs through a direct connection to the East Hills Railway Line.

And a need for two parallel runways. Only one of them became reality as reflected in the third runway (1994).

1972: The Concorde arrives in Sydney

On June 18, 1972, the Concorde made its first visit to Sydney. The Daily Telegraph managed a photo of the plane as it flew 1500 feet above Sydney's CBD by award-winning photographer, Bill McAuley.

   

Source: Behr, J. 1972. "Concorde Dwarfed by City Towers: Flying Won't Be The Same Again." The Daily Telegraph, June 21: 3. 

On that day, it flew to Canberra then onto Merimbula and 500 miles out to sea before returning to Merimbula and Melbourne. The Sydney-Canberra leg took just 18 minutes.

I also came across a photo of it taking off (I think) at Sydney Airport a few months ago on a Sydney history page on Facebook. People parked their cars on General Holmes Drive to get close to the action, something that would not be allowed today. I was hoping it would still be available online for this entry so people can see it.

Over the next quarter of a century, the Concorde's operated by Air France & British Airways would make occasional visits to Sydney, usually for promotional purposes or as part of world tours.

The last visit by a Concorde to Sydney was in 1999 when Air France did a world tour. Here is a video of a takeoff at Sydney Airport uploaded by Youtube member Todd Chapman. It is believed by plane enthusiasts that this flight was on September 24 1999.

 

Following a fatal crash of an Air France Concorde plane in Paris in July 2000 led to them being pulled out of service with the last Concorde Service in 2003 between New York and London.