A fourth terminal at Sydney Airport for international travellers that is connected to the existing domestic terminals is part of plans to help it cope with strong passenger growth and a competing airport at Badgerys Creek in the city's west.

According to the preliminary plans, Terminal 4 would be on the site of Qantas' jet base sandwiched between Terminal 3 and Qantas Drive on the airport's perimeter.

A pier for the new terminal would also extend south from the domestic precinct, while "remote aprons" could be built near the northern boundary in Airport Drive.

A month after turning down its "right of first refusal" to build and operate the new airport at Badgerys Creek, Sydney Airport chairman Trevor Gerber told shareholders that three years of consultation with the federal government over Western Sydney Airport had forced it to develop detailed plans to expand its existing operations.