Western Sydney Airport opens: first Jetstar and Air New Zealand flights land

Sydney's second airport, Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport at Badgerys Creek, has opened to passengers after decades of planning. A sold-out Jetstar flight to the Gold Coast became the first commercial departure on Sunday, October 25, and on Monday morning Air New Zealand landed the first international passenger flight from Auckland — making it the first major new airport in Australia in more than half a century, and the first in the country's biggest city to operate around the clock.

Opening weekend: the first flights

The new airport sits 45 km west of Sydney's city centre and 18 km from Penrith. Its cargo precinct opened in July; passenger operations began this weekend.

Milestone	Flight	Time (local)
First commercial departure	Jetstar JQ362 to the Gold Coast (Airbus A320, sold out)	Sunday, Oct 25, shortly before 11:30am
First arrival	Jetstar JQ363 from the Gold Coast	Sunday, about 3pm
First Melbourne departure	Jetstar	Sunday, 6pm
First international arrival	Air New Zealand NZ165 from Auckland	Monday, Oct 26, 7:27am
First international departure	Air New Zealand to Auckland	Monday, 8:55am
First Brisbane service	Jetstar	Tuesday, Oct 27

The opening flight was piloted by a Blacktown-raised captain, who said the day still felt surreal. Passengers who had travelled from interstate just to be on board described it as a joy ride. Check-in opened at 8am, three hours before the scheduled departure.

Airlines and routes coming next

Airline	Route(s)	Start
Jetstar	Melbourne, Gold Coast, Brisbane	October 25–27, 2026
Air New Zealand	Auckland (three return flights a week)	October 26, 2026
Singapore Airlines	Singapore, daily (late-night departure)	November 23, 2026 (subject to approvals)
Qantas	Melbourne and Brisbane	March 28, 2027 (subject to approvals)
VietJet, Fiji Airways	International	Expected within six months
Qatar Airways	Doha	Expected by end of 2027

The airport says passengers should be able to reach more than 250 destinations, directly or with one connection, within about a year. Air New Zealand and Qantas will keep their flights at Kingsford Smith as well.

Background

A second Sydney airport was debated for more than 50 years before construction began at Badgerys Creek. About 10,000 workers built it, roughly half of them from Western Sydney. The single runway is about 3,700 metres long, enough for the largest long-haul jets, and the terminal is roughly the size of Adelaide Airport's, which handles around 10 million passengers a year.

The airport will not reach that figure immediately; it expects to get close to 10 million passengers a year in the early-to-mid 2030s, when up to 8,500 jobs should support its operations. With extra terminals and a second runway, it is planned to handle around 80 million passengers a year by the 2060s — similar to London Heathrow today.

Reactions

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the opening an extraordinary day for Western Sydney, New South Wales and the country, and said it would become Australia's best airport. Transport Minister Catherine King praised the decades of effort behind the project. Chief executive Simon Hickey called it a generational change for Australian aviation and said the second day of operations was simply "another day at the office". Air New Zealand said being the first international airline to land there was an extraordinary moment.

Urban planners welcomed the 24-hour operation but warned that public transport is still weak: residents of fast-growing north-western suburbs may still reach Kingsford Smith faster than the new airport until the metro line opens.

Why it matters

Kingsford Smith Airport, near the city centre, has an 11pm–6am curfew and limited room to grow. Flights that run late there can be fined, cancelled or sent to Brisbane or Melbourne. Western Sydney has no curfew, so airlines can schedule late-night and early-morning flights and use it as a nearby alternate in bad weather. For the more than 2.5 million people of Western Sydney, it means an airport on their doorstep and thousands of local jobs.

For travellers from South Asia and the Gulf, the arrival of Singapore Airlines and later Qatar Airways means one-stop connections into western Sydney, home to large Pakistani, Indian and other South Asian communities.

What happens next

Jetstar starts Brisbane flights on Tuesday, October 27, and Singapore Airlines' daily service is due on November 23. Qantas follows in March 2027. Until the metro line is finished, passengers can use the free WSI Link bus from St Marys station (every 30 minutes), five other bus routes, taxis and rideshare, or drive via the M12 motorway to around 6,000 parking spaces.