Cheapest€164.75
- Virgin Australia VA629606:013h 18m09:19Cairns CNSSydney SYD
Door to door 6h 28mCO2 496.9 kgChanges 0Fixed, no changes
Traveling from Cairns to Sydney costs €164.75 at the cheapest and takes 6h 7m door to door at the fastest, across 1 mode and 2 operators. The route covers 2,020 km. Cheapest is by Flight, fastest is by Flight.
At a glance
- Distance
- 2,020 km
- Fastest
- 6h 7m
- Average
- 6h 19m
- Services per day
- 12
- Cheapest
- €164.75
- CO2 per passenger
- 496.9 kg
Every way to make this journey
Journey times below are door to door, so they include getting to the terminal and away from it at the other end. Fares are the cheapest we currently sell on September 29, 2026.
| Mode | Door to door | Moving | At the ends | From | CO2 | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight | 6h 10m | 3h | 3h 10m | €197.79 | 496.9 kg | 10 |
- 6h 10mFastest, by Flight
- €197.79Cheapest, by Flight
- 496.9 kgLowest CO2, by Flight
- 2,020 kmDistance traveled
The cheapest and the fastest on September 29, 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Fastest€210.77
- Virgin Australia VA281310:153h13:15Cairns CNSSydney SYD
Door to door 6h 10mCO2 496.9 kgChanges 0Fixed, no changes
Lowest CO2€236.14
- Cathay Pacific CP538007:302h 18m09:48Cairns CNSBrisbane BNE
- NSW TrainLink NS812110:385h 9m15:47South Brisbane railway stationNorth Sydney railway station
Changes at Brisbane, with 50 minutes between services and a walk of about 14 minutes.
Door to door 10h 14mCO2 376.2 kgChanges 1Fixed, no changes
Today's real departures
Live from the operators' own published timetables, through the open transit feeds they publish. Times and services are real. Fares are modeled until our booking connectors are live.
No live timetable for this trip yet.
Live from the operators' own published timetables, through the open transit feeds they publish. Times and services are real. Fares are modeled until our booking connectors are live.
Prices over the next three weeks
Live from our own engine, refreshed on every request. The cheapest days for each way of traveling are marked.
| Cheapest fare by mode and day for Cairns to Sydney | SatSep 12 | SunSep 13 | MonSep 14 | TueSep 15 | WedSep 16 | ThuSep 17 | FriSep 18 | SatSep 19 | SunSep 20 | MonSep 21 | TueSep 22 | WedSep 23 | ThuSep 24 | FriSep 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Train | €469.49 | €360.59 | €329.79 | €320.44 | €333.64 | €435.39 | €236.29 | €270.94 | €291.29 | €186.79 | €211.54 | €234.64 | €334.19 | €255.54 |
| Flight | €435.56 | €358.86 | €271.54 | €238.50 | €271.54 | €322.28 | €252.07 | €244.40 | €225.52 | €197.79 | €217.85 | €214.90 | €283.93 | €211.36 |
Cheapest day: 2026-09-29 · €164.75
Sydney is big enough that where you sleep decides what the days look like. We sell the seat, not the room.
Looking for somewhere to stay in Sydney?
The search opens on Sydney with your nights already filled in, so it is one step to a real price.
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When to book Cairns to Sydney
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €214.9090 days
- €134.6660 days
- €125.1945 days
- €151.7730 days
- €188.3521 days
- €211.3614 days
- €236.297 days
- €271.543 days
- €435.561 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €125.19.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 248 percent. The most expensive point is €435.56, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 45 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 45 days ahead. You are inside that window.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €225.52Sun
- €186.79Mon
- €211.54Tue
- €214.90Wed
- €283.93Thu
- €211.36Fri
- €244.40Sat
How the fare moves month by month
The same journey priced on the fifteenth of each of the next six months.
- €238.50Sep
- €178.32Oct
- €167.70Nov
- €153.54Dec
- €151.18Jan
- €133.99Feb
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 67% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 33% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 2,020 km against 1,961 km in a straight line, a detour of 3 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Brisbane, Townsville, Mackay, Sunshine Coast. The gap between arriving and leaving is 50 minutes, of which about 14 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 19 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Cairns at 06:01 and the last at 18:41, across 10 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Cairns
Rail
- Cairns railway station
- Kuranda railway station
- Redlynch railway station
Bus
- Cairns City bus station
- Airport Connect Terminal 1
Air
- CNS
Ferry
- Reef Fleet Terminal
Sydney
Rail
- North Sydney railway station
- Rookwood railway station, Sydney
- APM Siding
Bus
- Parramatta EA
- UTS Shuttle Bus
Air
- SYD
Ferry
- North Sydney
- Cabarita
Who runs this route
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | From |
|---|---|
 Alliance Airlines | €172.42 |
| Virgin Australia | €164.75 |
What the fare is made of
Every part of the total, so the number at checkout is the number here.
| Part | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Operator fare | €132.00 | 80% |
| Taxes | €23.76 | 14% |
| Supplier fees | €7.00 | 4% |
| Our service fee | €1.99 | 1% |
| Total you pay | €164.75 | 100% |
The flight gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near North Sydney railway station
Most of the points near North Sydney railway station open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Sydney on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Cairns to Sydney
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Cairns to Sydney?
The fastest journey from Cairns to Sydney takes 6h 7m door to door, of which 3h is spent moving, on the Flight. Most services take around 6h 19m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Cairns to Sydney?
The cheapest fare from Cairns to Sydney is €164.75, checked on September 29, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €267.71. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Cairns to Sydney?
The cheapest way from Cairns to Sydney is by Flight, at €197.79 for one passenger on September 29, 2026. That journey takes 6h 10m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Cairns to Sydney?
Fares from Cairns to Sydney bottom out around 45 days before departure, at €125.19. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 248 percent, measured on September 29, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Cairns to Sydney?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Cairns to Sydney, at €186.79. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, checked on September 29, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Cairns to Sydney?
February is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Cairns to Sydney, at €133.99 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from Cairns to Sydney?
2 operators sell services from Cairns to Sydney across 1 modes: Alliance Airlines, Virgin Australia. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Cairns to Sydney?
67 percent of the services we sell from Cairns to Sydney are direct. The rest connect at Brisbane, Townsville, Mackay, Sunshine Coast, with about 50 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Cairns to Sydney use?
Services from Cairns to Sydney by Flight leave from Cairns CNS and arrive at Sydney SYD. Allow about 3h 10m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Cairns to Sydney?
0 of the 2 operators we sell from Cairns to Sydney allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modeled number pass for a filed one.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Cairns to Sydney on September 11, 2026: 2020 km of route against 1961 km in a straight line, 12 services a day, 2 operators, a cheapest fare of €164.75, and 6h 7m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Plenty of what is worth seeing sits outside Sydney and elsewhere in Australia. None of it is ours to sell.
Anything to book in Sydney before you go?
The tickets worth having in advance, because the line at the door is usually the whole morning.
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Other ways to make this journey
Arriving in Sydney
Leaving Sydney
- 84Places you can leave for
- 25Countries
- 56Operators
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