Immigration 'surpasses' all tests
Media Release - DPS 19/2000
Immigration was expecting to clear more than 10,000 departing Olympic athletes, officials and media people through Sydney airport by midnight tonight (Monday).
Today (Monday) has seen the bulk of Olympic Family departures, with about 5,000 expected to leave tomorrow (Tuesday) and reducing numbers for the rest of the week.
More than 100,000 people were expected to have passed through both international and domestic terminals by midnight, in what is believed to be the biggest single day ever numerically for the airport.
About 46,000 - 30,000 departing and 16,000 arriving - were due for processing through the international airport. Immigration has maintained the normal stringent border checks on arriving passengers throughout the Olympic period.
"We're aiming for people's departures to be just as memorable for speed and efficiency as their arrival processing was," the Immigration Department's Manager Borders and Olympics, Mary-Jane Jones, said.
"For today's peak loads, we've placed an additional 10 staff at the airport. "These staff, on stand-by for ready relocation wherever required, complement the doubled shift numbers that Immigration has operated throughout the Olympic period."
And the extra numbers seemed to be working: A departing TV Globo reporter, from Brazil, commented to an Immigration official in Portuguese: "You Australians have surpassed everything."
Immigration's efforts started today before 5am; by midnight, they expect to have processed travellers on 97 incoming and 101 outgoing international flights.
The efforts also included departure clearances for top International Olympic Committee officials and members of the royal families of The Netherlands, Sweden and Jordan.