Sydney's $14bn curfew-free airport opens with a sold-out Jetstar flight
The inaugural Gold Coast service sold out within an hour, and the first international flight arrives Monday.
Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport opened to passenger flights on Sunday 25 October, the first brand-new airport built in Australia in more than half a century. The hub has risen from scratch at a cost of $14 billion.
Jetstar operated the first commercial service, with an Airbus A320 departing for the Gold Coast at 11:22 a.m. under flight number JQ362. The inaugural flight sold out within an hour of going on sale.
Later the same evening Jetstar began its second route from the new airport, with flight JQ375 scheduled to leave for Melbourne at 6 p.m. A Brisbane service follows on Tuesday 27 October, and Denpasar begins on 15 March.
The four routes make up Jetstar's opening network at Western Sydney. Its parent, Qantas, will start flying there under the QantasLink brand from 28 March, serving Brisbane and Melbourne, the same two cities Jetstar opened with.
The airport is about 44 kilometres from downtown Sydney, roughly 27 miles, and 20 minutes from Penrith. It is the city's second international airport, built in a part of Sydney that had campaigned for one for decades.
Western Sydney operates curfew-free, accepting arrivals and departures 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sydney's existing airport is restricted to daytime flying between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., a window of 17 hours.
The international network taking shape
Air New Zealand will be the first international carrier, departing Auckland on Monday 26 October and flying to Western Sydney up to three times a week. It becomes the airline's seventh year-round Australian destination, alongside Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
The Star Alliance airline also runs seasonal services to Cairns, Hobart and the Sunshine Coast. Four other foreign operators have signalled plans for the new hub: Fiji Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and VietJet Air.
Singapore Airlines begins Singapore flights on 23 November, while VietJet Air launches Ho Chi Minh City on 10 January and Fiji Airways starts Nadi on 19 March 2027. Qatar Airways' Doha service follows on 15 December 2027, the latest start of the group.
We reported on Qatar Airways' 15-hour nonstop from Doha to the new airport, and on Singapore Airlines bringing daily A350s to Sydney's new airport on 23 November. Both routes now have a runway open to receive them.
Freight operations began first. Qantas Freight, ASL Airlines and National Jet Express have run regular cargo services since 27 July, covering Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne and Perth.
Built to Heathrow's scale
The terminal handles domestic and international flights under one roof, and every check-in kiosk and bag drop works for any airline. That ends the queueing for a single carrier's counter that passengers at other airports still face.
Security screening and baggage claims can be switched between international and domestic use depending on the flights arriving and departing at any moment. Chief executive Simon Hickey told Nine News the airport has been designed to be the same size as London Heathrow.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King attended the opening alongside Hickey. He called it a historic day for Sydney, arriving after decades of Sydneysiders advocating for a second airport.
For now the airport is reached by a bus service and new road infrastructure, with a direct rail line expected to open next year. The train connection is the one piece of the project still on a later clock.
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Images: Credit: Western Sydney International Airport; Credit: Western Sydney Airport; Simple Flying
