A tale of two Sydneys – when travel plans take tourists to the wrong place with the right name
- If one of the several San Joses or two Stockholm airports is your destination, going astray is a distinct possibility
- In Sydney, Nova Scotia, an Australia-bound traveller turns up, lost and confused, at least once a year
Geoff Langford thought he knew the way to San Jose.
A self-described experienced traveller, Langford and Amber Lowdermilk were buckled into their seats and about to take off from Vancouver, Canada, for a holiday in Costa Rica when the flight attendant’s welcome message caught their attention.
“She was telling us about our three-hour trip to San Jose and we thought, ‘That seems really fast’. We asked the guy beside us, ‘Was she joking?’ And he looked at us like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
The couple had calculated it would take them at least twice that long to fly to San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO). By the time they realised their mistake, the plane was already in the air and bound for San Jose, California (SJC).
Courtney Davis can sympathise. Spokesman for Sydney Airport (YQY) in Nova Scotia, Canada, she says that at least once a year, a passenger boards a plane from somewhere in the world thinking they are heading to Australia only to land at her airport and wonder why they are met by people are wearing toques and winter boots. Davis says airport staff can usually spot those passengers right away – their shorts and flip flops are a dead giveaway.
“Of course people are usually panicked and a little confused,” Davis says. “But our little island has a way of making people feel at home and welcomed.”