Delivering an affordable mobile roaming solution for international travelers from Sydney Airport

In May 2023, Sydney Airport delivered an Australian airport first with the launch of tripsim by SYD – a new, travel eSIM that helps passengers stay better connected during their travels without incurring high data roaming charges.

With support from eSIM Go, tripsim by SYD has enabled Sydney Airport to deliver a more enhanced customer experience by harnessing sustainability technology, while creating a new revenue stream for the airport.

Sydney Airport is one of the world’s longest running commercial airports and the busiest in Australia. Prior to COVID, Sydney Airport welcomed more than 44 million passengers annually, generated more than $42 billion in economic activity (equivalent to nearly 7% of NSW’s Gross State Product), and directly and indirectly supported 336,000 jobs.

Sydney Airport strives to deliver a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints, harnessing data-led innovations that provide simple solutions to common travel woes. One such challenge – the cost of international data roaming.

Many passengers departing Sydney Airport’s international terminal were paying upwards of $5AUD per day for mobile roaming while traveling overseas. Always looking for ways to better support passengers, the Sydney Airport team identified this as an ongoing challenge for outbound passengers, discovering that before departure, most customers searched online for low-cost alternatives.

“Data roaming can be expensive. Rather than accept this on behalf of the millions of travelers who board flights through Sydney Airport, we wanted to provide our customers with a viable solution to enhance their entire holiday experience. The tripsim product has been a great collaboration with eSIM Go, made easy by its highly flexible and scalable self-serve API solution that seamlessly integrates into our existing platform.”

Sydney Airport worked with eSIM Go to collaborate on a bespoke eSIM product specifically designed for Aussies departing internationally through the airport, and in fact for anyone heading overseas from any city within Australia.

In May 2023 tripsim by SYD was officially launched.

A customer kiosk was positioned within Sydney Airport’s bustling T1 International departures area during the first two weeks of launch, coinciding with a peak travel period for Australians. This kiosk provided Sydney Airport with the opportunity to showcase the cost-saving convenience of eSIM and gain valuable feedback and insights from customers flying internationally.

The overwhelming response from customers was one of pleasant surprise — most passengers had never heard of eSIM and were excited by the opportunity to enhance their travel experience through better on-the-go connectivity with family and friends.

Building trust & relationships Thanks to eSIM Go, tripsim integrates seamlessly with underlying mobile network services to provide valuable data insights for personalized communications and offers. And unlike other ancillaries, tripsim is branded as a Sydney Airport product.

Beautiful simplicity To meet the evolving needs of its passengers, tripsim by SYD data bundles are available to purchase on the tripsim website or by scanning a QR code, minimizing the number of apps required on a mobile phone.

Global Innovation Award As the first airport in Australia to launch this type of mobile roaming solution, Sydney Airport was recently awarded the Airport Innovation Award at the 2023 National Airport Industry Awards.