Adelaide Airport: International or not?

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Adelaide International Airport (IATA: ADL) is a fairly new airport. But wait a minute; did I really write “International” Airport? Did you spot the international part when you were there the last time? No? Well, believe it or not, this airport in down-under’s slightly sleepy  state (no offense, but it’s apparently true) of South Australia is actually a, what I call, chameleon airport, or in more technical terms, a “dual airport”. It’s an International airport by morning for various flights from or to Asia and becomes a sole Domestic airport by the afternoon when all gates are allocated to Australian flights and the immigration zone disappears. Quite clever, hu? Indeed!

Sadly when I landed on my Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong for a short stop-over before continuing to Melbourne, the airport was divided into International and Domestic. Sadly that is, because this limited my ability to explore the entire airport as I wasn’t allowed to leave the small locked off area. But on the plus side there are still a few things for you to do, at least for the hour or so before your onward flight: You will find a duty free store which is surprisingly well stocked with, well, Aussie souvenirs, but also electronics and travel accessories, watches, toys and more. Next door you find a “Villa & Hut Kafé” with friendly staff. There is also a small news shop and a cash machine. For some reason the latter didn’t work when I tried it (maybe the coffee hasn’t quite kicked in for me at the time).

But that’s it then. Oh, one more, there is a Singapore Airlines lounge but no Qantas one as that one is on the domestic side of the airport.

Airport Name	Adelaide (International) Airport
Website	http://www.aal.com.au/
IATA Code	ADL
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	AUD 175
	AUD 75 (with Ice Jacket)

[Picture from Flickr]