Singapore Airlines brings daily A350s to Sydney's new airport on 23 November

Singapore Airlines will begin flying to Western Sydney Airport (WSI) on 23 November, less than a month after the new airport officially opens to passengers. The Star Alliance carrier will operate a daily Airbus A350-900 from its Singapore Changi hub, the first widebody on passenger flights at WSI.

The route covers 3,886 miles (6,254 km), with a scheduled flying time of seven hours and 50 minutes from Singapore to Sydney and eight hours and ten minutes on the return. It will operate as SQ261 and SQ262.

The 303-seat A350-900 has two cabins: 40 seats in business class and 263 in economy. There is no premium economy cabin on this variant, a point worth knowing for anyone comparing it with the airline's other Australian flights.

SQ261 leaves Singapore at 11:30 AM and lands at WSI at 10:20 PM local time. SQ262 departs WSI at 11:55 PM and reaches Changi at 5:05 AM the next day, in time to connect with morning departures from the hub.

That near-midnight departure depends on the airport's licence to operate 24 hours a day. Sydney Kingsford Smith has a curfew from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and Singapore Airlines' latest departure from it leaves at 7:10 PM.

Singapore Airlines became the first international carrier to commit to serving WSI, in August 2024. The airport will be its eighth destination in Australia, alongside its four daily flights to Kingsford Smith, which makes five daily Sydney services once the route starts.

What the wider schedule adds up to

In the week of 23 November the airline is scheduled to operate 149 weekly departures from Singapore to Australia. Schedule data from the analytics company Cirium puts the same week last year at 140.

Australia is the airline's largest market by weekly departures. Indonesia follows with 133, China with 105 and India with 96, while Malaysia (89), Thailand (84), Japan (70), Vietnam (68), the US (57) and the UK (49) complete the top ten.

Melbourne is the busiest Australian route with five daily departures. Brisbane, Perth and Kingsford Smith each get four daily round trips, and with WSI included the combined Sydney schedule matches Melbourne at 35 weekly departures.

Compared with the same week in 2025, the Australian schedule grows by nine weekly departures, around 6%. Seven of the nine are WSI flights; the other two are extra weekly services that Adelaide has gained since last year.

How the new airport is starting

WSI welcomes its first passengers on Sunday 25 October, when Jetstar operates JQ362 to the Gold Coast at 11:00 AM. The budget carrier then expands its network to include Brisbane and Melbourne.

A day later Air New Zealand begins the airport's first international service, three weekly flights to Auckland using A320neo and A321neo aircraft.

The airport is certified to handle the Airbus A380 and has been open for cargo flights since July. QantasLink is due to launch passenger flights in March 2027.

WSI is 27 miles (44 km) from Sydney's central business district, against around five miles (8 km) for Kingsford Smith. The airport is optimistic about handling over eight million passengers a year by 2030.

Cirium data shows only a handful of flights scheduled each day at WSI over the next 12 months. The November launch is therefore a key milestone for an airport that is still building its timetable.

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Sources

1. Simple Flying Singapore Airlines Launches New 8-Hour Long-Haul Route In 1 Month: See Map Now

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Image: simpleflying.com