There are a few cities around the world with identical names. There's London (England), but also London, Ontario in Canada. There's Paris (France), as well as Paris, Texas, in the United States. But of all of these cases, one seems to have produced more "big mistakes" for travelers than any other: Sydney (Australia) and Sydney, Nova Scotia (Canada). So, how many times has this taken place?

A recurring mistake

In August 2002, young British tourists flying from London ended up in Nova Scotia rather than Australia. 19 years old at the time, Raeoul Sebastian and Emma Nunn, purchased their tickets from a travel agent and flew from London to Halifax. Their connection in Halifax took them to Cape Breton.

"As soon as I saw the sign 'Sydney, Canada,' I knew that obviously it can't be a mistake...I knew we couldn't be going to get on another plane. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, we're in Canada.'" -Emma Nunn

Seven years later, in August 2009, The Daily Mail put out an article titled "Dopey Dutch pair set off Down Under and end up in Sydney... Canada." This was the story of Joannes Rutten and his grandson landing in Sydney, Nova Scotia, after a long journey from Amsterdam. An Air Canada employee stated at the time,"'They arrived with no money. All they had was Australian money."

Like the 2002 incident, the pair had booked their trip through a Dutch travel agency, and so it's uncertain if this was the fault of the travelers or the travel agency. The Daily Mail article notes that this mistake also happened in 2008 with an Argentinean woman.

Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests.

In 2010, Italian tourists ended up far from Australia after the couple's travel agency in Italy made the booking error. The most recent case involves Milan Schipper in 2017, who booked the flight himself, telling CBC that "it was much cheaper than all the other tickets."

"Instead of heading straight to the beach, as he had planned, he found himself in near-blizzard conditions with nothing more than a light jacket." -CBC News

How do these mistakes happen?

While the cases mentioned above see travelers realizing their mistake at their final destination or connecting airport, it's something that should have been picked up much earlier. It's interesting that in most cases, a travel agent was mentioned. This would be one key reason for travelers ending up at "the wrong Sydney," with those affected likely putting their blind faith in the accuracy and competence of the travel agent.

While the mistakes of the past have probably informed the travel agents of today, it's likely that agents in decades past (particularly outside of Canada) were unaware that another "Sydney airport" existed elsewhere in the world. Clearly, without checking IATA codes (YQY vs. SYD), some costly mistakes have been made.

When it comes to our most recent example involving an 18-year-old, one can imagine a lack of travel experience and an excitement over a cheap airfare were to blame. And, in all cases except the one in 2017, a lack of required tourist visa to Canada would likely have been a factor in allowing these Europeans to step onboard their intercontinental flight without needing additional Canada-specific documentation. In 2016, Canada introduced a requirement for visa-exempt travelers to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) when arriving in Canada by air. Assuming check-in and gate agents do their job and check documentation, the eTA requirement will probably stop any more Europeans from making the same "Sydney" mistake as those in the past.

While Sydney, Nova Scotia is nothing like Sydney, Australia in terms of geography, it's still a beautiful little corner of the world filled with kind and hospitable Canadians. While it's not what travelers originally signed up for, Nova Scotia's tourism board probably isn't too upset that these mistakes happen from time to time...

Sources: The Daily Mail, CBC,