Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport has opened to commercial passengers, with Jetstar’s Airbus A320 flight JQ362 departing for the Gold Coast at 11:00 a.m. on 25 October. The fully booked service was the first passenger flight from Sydney’s second major airport, which is designed to provide curfew-free domestic, international and freight operations from Badgerys Creek.
The opening followed seven years of construction, 15 years of planning and a year of operational testing. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, NSW Premier Chris Minns and WSI chief executive Simon Hickey attended the launch.
Jetstar also operated opening-day services to and from Melbourne, with the return Gold Coast flight landing at WSI in the afternoon. The airline’s initial schedule includes services to Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Brisbane, all operated with Airbus A320 aircraft.
Cargo operations began in July, while scheduled passenger operations commenced on 25 October. Air New Zealand operated the airport’s first international passenger service to Auckland the following day. Singapore Airlines is scheduled to begin daily flights to Singapore in November, with further services planned by Qantas, Qatar Airways, Fiji Airways and Vietjet.
The curfew-free airport is intended to add capacity to Sydney’s aviation system and give airlines greater scheduling flexibility than is available at Sydney Airport, which restricts overnight commercial operations.