Western Sydney International Airport will open to commercial passengers on Sunday, with travellers flying to the Gold Coast set to become the first to depart from Australia’s newest airport.
The Nancy-Bird Walton airport at Badgerys Creek follows almost seven years of construction and eight decades of planning for a second airport serving Sydney. Its supporters have long argued that Australia’s most populous city needed a facility capable of operating around the clock for both passengers and cargo.
Simon Hickey, chief executive of WSA Co Limited, the federal government-established company developing and operating the airport, said the project would bring new opportunities to western Sydney.
“WSI is the most transformational piece of infrastructure our nation has seen since the Sydney Harbour Bridge,” he said.
“It brings the world closer to western Sydney and opportunity closer to home, creating new meaningful jobs for generations to come.
“Young people growing up in the west can now look to the sky and see their future is bright and right here, in their own backyard.”
Western Sydney airport designed for expansion
Construction began in 2018 after the Abbott government formally approved the Badgerys Creek site in 2014. More than 25 million cubic metres of soil and rock were moved to prepare the site, with the airport delivered on time and on budget in 2025.
The terminal, named after pioneering Australian aviator Nancy-Bird Walton, was designed through a selective competition. The modular airport has room to expand to four terminals and add a second runway.
Seven passenger carriers have so far committed to operating from the airport, with Jetstar scheduled to be the first airline to carry passengers to and from Badgerys Creek.
Bus services will initially link the airport with St Marys, while a rapid-transit line along the route is expected to open in 2027.
Local government and business leaders hope the airport will help turn western Sydney into an economic powerhouse, but they have warned that its wider benefits will depend on investment in roads, amenities and other infrastructure.
Liverpool City Council mayor Ned Mannoun said greater Sydney’s future was “only limited by imagination”. Penrith mayor Todd Carney said state and federal governments would need to provide “turbo-charged investment” in the infrastructure required to support growth.
Former MP and Business Western Sydney leader David Borger said expansion would depend on connectivity, while Property Council Western Sydney regional director Ross Grove said the economic dividend would require continued investment.
“As that first plane takes off today, our focus should turn to what takes off next: the jobs, investment and development this airport was built to unlock,” Mr Grove said.
Plans envisage the Badgerys Creek airport eventually handling more than 80 million passengers a year by the 2060s. Mr Hickey said Western Sydney International would continue to grow alongside the city and expand choice for travellers and airlines.
Paul Fletcher, who served as federal infrastructure minister through much of the 2010s, said Australians would have to watch the master plan “play out over coming decades”.
“This is a 10, 20, 30, 50, 100-year project,” he said.
