Australia’s first airport gym opens amid changes at Sydney Airport

There are big things brewing at Sydney Airport, and it’s all in the small details. A haircut before heading into the city. A workout after landing. Soon, perhaps, a manicure at the terminal.

The international terminal is evolving in small practical ways. Inside Terminal 1’s International Arrivals area, a cluster of self-care services is starting to appear. Barber’s Lounge has opened outside arrivals, offering haircuts and grooming services for arriving passengers, airport staff and those meeting travellers.

And it is joined by a 300-square-metre Anytime Fitness gym, opening on Monday, which Sydney Airport says will be the first airport-based gym of its kind in Australia. (A Higher State fitness club is within Melbourne Airport, though not in the terminal. It’s located in the Novotel and Ibis Styles Melbourne Airport, a five-minute walk from terminals 3 and 4.) A ProfessioNail salon is also expected to open later this year.

All three services sit on the public, landside side of Terminal 1, meaning you don’t need a boarding pass to use them. Barber’s Lounge is in the International Arrivals hall, close to where passengers emerge from customs into the public concourse. The ProfessioNail salon will also be in the arrivals area, near the same stretch of shops and cafes where people typically gather to meet arriving passengers. Anytime Fitness will be slightly further from the arrivals doors, downstairs on the ground level of Terminal 1, near the transport connections and close to the train station access.

On their own, these additions might seem like minor conveniences. But together they reveal a shift in how Sydney Airport Terminal 1 is being positioned as much more than a mere exit path. The barber shop, gym and nail salon are the most recent examples, but they sit alongside refreshed food and beverage offerings, expanded retail and infrastructure upgrades.

The terminal also recently welcomed a Victoria’s Secret Beauty boutique, specialising in fragrances, cosmetics and travel-friendly products. Duty-free operator Heinemann, which took over Sydney Airport’s international retail concession in 2015, continues to anchor the departures shopping area with its vast duty-free stores.

The airport has introduced several new dining venues in Terminal 1 over the past year, including EARL, BARista, East x West and Sydney Coffee Trader. It already housed venues such as Hudsons Coffee and Coopers Alehouse.

Behind the scenes, the airport is investing in the systems that move passengers through the terminal. New SmartGate kiosks installed in the Terminal 1 arrivals hall are designed to speed up immigration processing in busy periods, while the international security screening area has introduced new CT-scanning technology and more screening lanes to increase capacity and reduce the need for travellers to remove liquids and aerosols from bags.

Sydney’s aviation landscape is on the cusp of a major shift with the opening of Western Sydney International Airport at Badgerys Creek expected this year. The new 24-hour airport is expected to gradually take on a growing share of Sydney’s air traffic.

While Western Sydney International will introduce a second major gateway for the city, Sydney Airport’s Terminal 1 will remain the primary international hub in the near term.

Sydney Airport is now finalising its Master Plan 2045, which sets out how the airport intends to manage long-term passenger growth, upgrade terminals and improve transport connections over the coming decades. It’s due to submit the plan to the federal government on March 31.

See sydneyairport.com.au