It was around the third hour of construction noise at Western Sydney International Airport that it felt like a bad idea to spend an entire day at the terminal.
asserted
it → feel → terminal
The plan was simple enough: Sydney has a brand-new airport, and the Herald wanted to know what the terminal experience was like.
asserted
experience → have → what
We imagined something akin to the 2004 Tom Hanks film The Terminal, where a man is stuck living at an airport.
asserted
man → imagine → airport
The difference here is that Tom Hanks was stranded at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, and I am stuck at Western Sydney International.
asserted
I → strand → International
This is how the day unfolded.
asserted
day → unfold → ?
My Uber drops me off at the designated taxi stand and I take in my home for the next few hours.
asserted
I → drop → hours
The airport’s a lovely sight, all wooden beams and sleek finishes, like a mid-century modern spaceship.
asserted
airport → ’ → spaceship
At this point, only enthusiasts, locals or influencers mill about, mostly keen to have a look.
asserted
enthusiasts → mill → look
This already felt like a great day of journalism.
asserted
This → feel → journalism
Search for coffee
I begin as I would if I actually were flying out: buying a coffee.
asserted
I → search → coffee
The challenges of the day start to dawn on me.
asserted
challenges → start → me
To discover the answer, I have to go through security and into the airport terminal.
asserted
I → discover → terminal
And to nobody’s surprise, I am randomly selected to have my bag searched.
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bag → select → surprise
And while, as a Lebanese-Australian Muslim, I am no stranger to security checks, being stopped on my first entry at WSIA is special.
asserted
stopped → stop → WSIA
Once security clears me and my bag, I am finally free to search for more coffee options, but to my dismay, there are only kiosks and one convenience store.
asserted
I → clear → dismay
And so I’m forced to turn to the kiosks, which are all called Westbound Cafe and all serve coffee in chic beige cups with blue lids.
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which → force → lids
There’s one at the food court and one at the gates, and the flat white is $6.50.
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white → ’ → gates
The barista says they served more than 18,000 customers on the airport’s first day on Sunday: “Half passengers and half people coming to see.
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passengers → say → Sunday
“It’s obviously a lot less busy now,” she says to me – and all three people in the terminal.
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she → ’ → terminal
Because while the airport is fully functional, it is not, in fact, buzzing.
asserted
it → buzz → fact
Three flights are set to depart this day, and three will arrive, all in the afternoon.
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three → set → afternoon
The gates and the seats
Beyond the food court without food are the gates, lined up alongside enormous glass windows that stretch high into the ceiling, looking out onto the tarmac and the Blue Mountains beyond.
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that → line → tarmac
It’s a beautiful, empty sight, full of brand-new seating arrangements and one unused travelator.
asserted
It → ’ → arrangements
The narrow stretch features only five gates.
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stretch → feature → gates
I, of course, try them all.
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I → try → them
One by one, I sit in the different chairs, stare out into space for a minute, get up and move to the next.
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I → sit → next
They’re firm, supportive and comfortable – enough so that I almost forgot I should be trying the others.
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I → ’re → others
The recliners are great in theory, but awkward to sit on.
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recliners → sit → theory
They don’t lean back enough to make a nap viable, and are not upright enough for a comfortable seat.
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nap → lean → seat
The benches are as you expect.
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you → expect → ?
There are also couches with low backrests, benches for customers to work on, and power outlets at almost every seat.
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customers → be → seat
More people arrive at this point, but the first flight out is more than two hours away.
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flight → arrive → point
The boredom begins to grip me like hunger.
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boredom → begin → hunger
A man reads the evacuation plan so closely his nose almost touches the wall.
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nose → read → wall
I feel that.
asserted
I → feel → that
I return to the Westbound kiosk in the food court searching for a snack and something to pass the time.
asserted
I → return → time
The banana bread is $8.50 and tastes like banana cardboard.
asserted
bread → taste → cardboard
The worker tells me the airport will come alive as passengers arrive; some are trickling in.
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some → tell → me
I sit at one of the benches in the food court and people-watch.
asserted
I → sit → court
Both the convenience and the tech store open and, suddenly, it feels like a real airport.
asserted
it → feel → airport
…and 38 more, not listed.
The Aporia
