BORDER FORCE: Sydney Airport trials digital incoming passenger card

Sydney Airport is trialling a long-awaited move towards digitising one of the most tedious parts of international travel: the Incoming Passenger Card (IPC). From today, eligible passengers on select Qantas flights from New Zealand can complete their arrival declaration online — no more fumbling for pens mid-flight.

It’s a small pilot, but for frequent flyers tired of the outdated blue form, it’s a potentially game-changing step forward.

Digital declaration trial begins at Sydney Airport

Passengers arriving on QF144 from Auckland and QF122 from Queenstown will be the first to ditch the paper card. Instead, travellers can complete their arrival declarations in advance via the Qantas app, receiving a digital QR code to present to Australian Border Force (ABF) and biosecurity officers on arrival.

“This is a significant step forward in simplifying the arrival process into Australia. The overwhelmingly positive response from our customers in Brisbane has demonstrated just how much demand there is for this innovation.”

Cam Wallace, CEO of Qantas International & Freight

Qantas was the first airline to trial this system earlier this year in Brisbane. Now, with Sydney trialling the technology, the project moves closer to a full Australian rollout. This cautious approach is probably wise given the multiple previous failures to digitise the entry card.

Government and industry throw support behind paperless entry

The initiative is led by Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

The trial complements other upgrades at Sydney Airport’s T1 international terminal, including eight new SmartGate kiosks, with 32 more to come in early 2026. Once complete, the upgraded gates will double the airport’s SmartGate capacity, with the aim of speeding up arrivals and freeing up staff. Arriving passengers wouldn’t necessarily agree with many complaints about the two step smartgate process and its implementation at Sydney Airport.

A decade of delays and failed starts

Frequent flyers might be feeling déjà vu — and they wouldn’t be wrong. The digital incoming passenger card has been on the federal government’s wish list for over a decade, yet the project has repeatedly failed to launch.

Initial concepts floated in the early 2010s stalled due to privacy concerns, inter-agency delays, and changing political priorities. A renewed push in 2016 under the “Seamless Traveller” initiative was shelved without fanfare. Even as New Zealand rolled out a digital arrivals card in 2019, Australia remained stuck in the paper age.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, momentum returned as paper-based processes were seen as both inefficient and a potential health risk. Yet even then, the digital arrival card failed to materialise on a national scale, leaving Australia behind the curve compared to other developed nations.

What travellers need to know

• Eligible flights: Only QF144 (Auckland) and QF122 (Queenstown) to Sydney are part of the initial trial.
• How it works: Passengers complete the declaration in the Qantas app before travel. On arrival, they present a QR code instead of the paper card.
• Who still needs the card? All other international passengers — including those flying with other airlines — must still fill out the standard IPC until the program expands.

If the trial proves successful, expect to see a gradual rollout to other Qantas international services and eventually to all international arrivals in Australia.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is a long-overdue reform that could significantly streamline the arrival experience. No more fiddling with pens and paper on board during the final phase of a flight.

Let’s just hope this digital card doesn’t go the way of so many previous attempts — talked about, trialled, and then quietly shelved. For now, keep that pen handy… let’s hope, not for much longer.

Now all they have to do is sort out that really annoying two stage entry process with two banks of machines.