Western Sydney International Airport Opens to Passengers, Jetstar Flies First

SYDNEY, Australia, 25 October 2026 – Sydney’s second major airport, Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, opened to passengers today. Its first commercial passenger flight, a Jetstar Airbus A320 to the Gold Coast, took off just before 11:30am local time, ABC News reported. The Australian Government had scheduled it for 11am.

The opening date was confirmed in June by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King. The airport at Badgerys Creek, in Sydney’s west, has been handling freight since 26 July, and Airservices Australia lists 25 October as the start of passenger operations.

Who flies from Western Sydney

Jetstar is the launch airline. The government says it plans up to 14 flights a week to Melbourne, four to the Gold Coast and three to Brisbane. The first international service, Air New Zealand to Auckland, starts on 26 October with three flights a week, Time Out Sydney reports. Singapore Airlines begins daily flights to Singapore Changi on 23 November.

Qantas itself waits until 28 March 2027, when it starts four flights a week each to Brisbane and Melbourne using QantasLink Embraer E190s; Qantas Freight has operated at the airport since 27 July. According to Time Out Sydney, Vietjet (Ho Chi Minh City, January 2027), Fiji Airways (Nadi, from 19 March 2027) and Qatar Airways (Doha, expected from December 2027) are also lined up.

A 24-hour airport

Unlike Sydney Kingsford Smith, which has an 11pm-6am curfew, the new airport is designed to operate around the clock. The government says the intended date for night aircraft movements to begin is 1 November 2026. From that date, Airservices Australia says, freight flights that are currently allowed into Kingsford Smith during curfew hours will no longer be permitted there, except in emergencies or by special dispensation.

The airport’s published flight paths took effect on 9 July 2026. Airservices warns residents to expect aircraft both by day and at night, and lets the public track flights on its WebTrak tool.

Size, cost and jobs

The airport can handle up to 10 million passengers a year at first, with room to expand; Time Out Sydney reports a long-term capacity of more than 80 million a year, which it says would eventually make it Sydney’s largest airport. The government puts its total Western Sydney spending at nearly A$18 billion, a figure that covers the airport, the planned Sydney Metro rail link and road upgrades. It says construction created more than 12,800 jobs, about half of them for local workers.

Albanese said in June that “it wasn’t a matter of if Sydney needed a new airport, but when”, ABC News reported.

Getting there

There is no train yet. The metro line was meant to open with the airport, but in June New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said it could be delayed until 2028, according to ABC News. For now, Time Out Sydney reports $25 bus services to Parramatta, the Sydney CBD and Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, plus FlixBus coaches to Parramatta and Canberra. The toll-free M12 motorway to the airport is still under construction.

For travellers, the practical point is to check which Sydney airport is on your ticket, as Jetstar now flies from both and Qantas will join it in March 2027. Big new airports are opening elsewhere too: India’s Noida International Airport near Delhi is another recent example.

Read more

• Noida International Airport: India’s new Delhi-area hub
• Heathrow third runway: the plan, the cost and the timeline
• The busiest airports in the world by passengers
• Qantas Project Sunrise: nonstop Sydney to London and New York

Sources: Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure joint release, 10 June 2026; Airservices Australia, page updated 21 October 2026; ABC News, 9 June 2026; Time Out Sydney, 22 October 2026.

Featured image: FlyingFuel graphic using a photo of the terminal of Western Sydney International Airport in July 2026 by Aebion, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Updated 25 October 2026: confirmed the first flight’s departure, citing ABC News.