Western Sydney International, named after aviation pioneer Nancy-Bird Walton, took its first passengers on 25 October. Seven airlines have signed on, but until the Metro line opens, every trip into the city goes by road.

Jetstar flew the first passengers out of Badgerys Creek, a semi-rural district 45 km west of the CBD, on Sunday 25 October, and Air New Zealand landed the first international flight the next morning. Unlike Kingsford Smith, Sydney’s main airport at Mascot, the site operates around the clock. Flights will remain few through 2027, and the Metro to St Marys, the nearest station on the suburban rail network, is not due before late 2027. Until then, reaching the city takes about 90 minutes by bus and train.

At 7.27am on Monday 26 October, Air New Zealand flight NZ165 from Auckland touched down at WSI, 18 minutes ahead of schedule, as the airport’s first international passenger arrival. Not every one of its 142 passengers had planned the trip: one holidaymaker told the ABC he had read “Western Sydney” as Western Australia and was meant to be in Perth. The day before, Jetstar’s JQ362 had left for the Gold Coast at 11.22am, on a flight that sold out.

It is the first major international airport to open in Australia since Melbourne Airport in 1970. Strictly speaking, it is not Sydney’s first international gateway either: that role once belonged to the flying-boat base at Rose Bay, on the harbour. The project cost A$5.3 billion. The site carries the name of Nancy-Bird Walton, who learned to fly at 17 under Charles Kingsford Smith and became, in the 1930s, the first woman in Australia licensed to carry passengers.

A 24-hour airport 45 km west of the CBD

The airport sits about 45 km west of central Sydney as the crow flies, about 56 km by road. Unlike Kingsford Smith, where a curfew applies from 11pm to 6am, it operates 24 hours a day. Stage 1 consists of a single 3.7 km runway and one terminal for both domestic and international flights, sized for about 10 million passengers a year.

The start is modest. Data from analytics firm Cirium points to a schedule of up to six flights a day over the first twelve months. The airport’s master plan forecasts 8.4 million passengers a year by 2030, reaching the 10 million capacity around 2033, and 19.3 million by 2045, a majority of them international. With additional terminals and a second runway, chief executive Simon Hickey told the ABC it could eventually handle 82 million passengers a year in the 2060s. University of Sydney transport professor David Levinson considers these forecasts optimistic.

24 hours a day. No curfew at WSI, while Kingsford Smith closes to flights from 11pm to 6am.

Seven airlines, with launches spread until December 2027

Jetstar carries the domestic network for now. It flies up to 14 times a week to Melbourne, serves the Gold Coast daily, a frequency raised from four weekly two months before opening because of demand, and reaches Brisbane on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. QantasLink joins on 28 March 2027 with Embraer E190 regional jets of around 95 seats, flying to Melbourne and Brisbane on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, subject to regulatory approval.

On the international side, Air New Zealand links Auckland three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Singapore Airlines starts a daily nonstop service on 23 November 2026, its fifth daily flight between Sydney and Singapore, leaving at 11.55pm and landing at Changi at 5.05am. Vietjet follows from 10 January 2027 to Ho Chi Minh City, on Wednesdays and Sundays with a 377-seat Airbus A330, adding a third weekly flight in March 2027. Fiji Airways launches three weekly Nadi flights on 19 March 2027, on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays, with Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The airline is ending its Canberra–Nadi service in early 2027, and chief executive Paul Scurrah cited Western Sydney’s Fijian community, one of the largest outside Fiji, as a reason for the move.

Two further routes await approval. Jetstar has asked the International Air Services Commission for capacity to fly daily from Western Sydney to Bali from 15 March 2027 on its A321LR, while Virgin Australia is seeking extra Bali flights of its own from other east coast cities. Thai Vietjet, the airline’s Thai joint venture, plans four weekly Bangkok flights from November 2027.

The longest route opens last. Qatar Airways will fly to Doha three times a week from 15 December 2027 on 354-seat Boeing 777-300ERs with Qsuite business class, connecting at Hamad International to more than 170 destinations across the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The airline plans to go daily by the end of 2028, and tickets go on sale on 19 December 2026. Virgin Australia has confirmed it will codeshare on the route. The United Arab Emirates has also secured seven weekly frequencies at WSI under a revised air services agreement, which Emirates or Etihad could use, but no Emirati airline has announced a route.

“More than 250 destinations around the globe just over a year from now.” Simon Hickey, CEO, Western Sydney International, as reported by Euronews

Late-night slots that Kingsford Smith cannot schedule

The curfew-free licence already shapes timetables. Qatar Airways’ Doha flights will land at 11.45pm and leave again at 4.10pm the following day. Fiji Airways’ Nadi-bound service departs at 11.55pm and reaches Fiji at 4.55am, or 5.55am once Sydney leaves daylight saving in April. Simon Hickey argues that round-the-clock operations give airlines more flexibility to connect with their global hubs.

Ground transport has yet to follow the same clock. The free shuttle to St Marys stops at midnight from Sunday to Thursday and at 1am at weekends, while local buses end at 10pm. Fiji Airways’ 10.55pm arrival stays within shuttle hours, but Qatar passengers landing at 11.45pm on a Monday or Wednesday are likely to miss the last bus once through border formalities. A Transport for NSW spokesperson stated that no passenger flights currently operate or are planned between 1am and 4.30am, and the department points late arrivals towards private shuttles, rideshare and parking. There is no hotel at the airport yet. According to Nine, the closest is the Wallacia Hotel, a pub dating from 1937, while Atura Oran Park is about 20 minutes away; Penrith, Liverpool and Parramatta offer a wider choice, including the Pullman in Penrith, opened in 2025 as Western Sydney’s first five-star hotel.

The terminal: self-service check-in and a lounge from November

Flight Hacks, on board the first flight, describes a compact building centred on a wave-shaped timber ceiling, with check-in relying almost entirely on automated bag drops and food options still limited on opening day as several outlets remained under construction. The Rayleigh Lounge, operated by dnata, opens in time for Singapore Airlines’ first flight on 23 November, with about 80 seats designed to expand to 130, a bar and three private shower suites. It will serve international passengers only, and no domestic lounge has been announced. Beyond the lounge, Lagardère runs 11 outlets including duty free, Blue Mountains brewery Mountain Culture is opening two venues, and children’s play areas are included.

The terminal, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Cox Architecture with Woods Bagot and informed by Dharug Custodians, also pays tribute to its namesake. Along the domestic concourse travelator, a 60-metre installation by artists Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro features a life-size model of the Gipsy Moth that Nancy-Bird Walton flew. Its title, My God it’s a Woman!, borrows the name of her autobiography.

Arrival formalities offer one practical change. WSI is the first Australian airport where passengers on any airline can complete the web-based Australia Travel Declaration, up to 72 hours before travel, instead of the paper incoming passenger card. The paper card remains available for those who prefer it.

“A historic day for Australia.” Stephanie Tully, Jetstar CEO, on opening day, quoted by Flight Hacks

SYD or WSI: the airport code on the ticket matters

Sydney is now a two-airport city, and the change has already caught some travellers out. On opening weekend, the ABC reported passengers who had not noticed that their flights used WSI. A Swedish visitor who had flown to Melbourne from Kingsford Smith found her return flight landing at Badgerys Creek, while her car waited at Mascot, about two hours away by her own estimate. The two airports sit 41 km apart as the crow flies, 53 km by road, and Super Shuttle WSI links them for A$65 one way. Checking the three-letter code on each booking, SYD or WSI, is the simplest safeguard.

SYD or WSI. Kingsford Smith (Mascot) and Western Sydney International (Badgerys Creek) are 41 km apart.

St Marys station, the compulsory link until the Metro

Ground access is the weak point, and it is a measurable one. Kingsford Smith lies 8 km from the CBD, about 20 minutes by taxi, and its Airport Link train reaches the city in 13 to 20 minutes. WSI is more than five times further out. By road the trip takes roughly three times longer, and by public transport four to seven times longer.

The cheapest option combines a free bus and a train. The WSI Link shuttle runs every 30 minutes between the terminal and St Marys station, from 4.30am to midnight Sunday to Thursday and until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. The bus ride takes about 30 minutes, then the T1 Western Line train needs around 55 minutes to Central, for a standard Opal fare. Allow about 1 hour 30 minutes in total: Flight Hacks recorded a 2 hour 16 minute bus and train trip to the CBD on opening day.

A private express coach offers a direct alternative. Super Shuttle WSI serves the Sydney CBD in 45 to 60 minutes for A$55 one way or A$80 return, Parramatta for A$25 or A$45, and Kingsford Smith for A$65 or A$90. Local electric buses also link WSI with Penrith, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Leppington and Mount Druitt, every 30 minutes from 5am to 10pm, at standard fares. Further afield, FlixBus launched on opening day a line from Parramatta to Canberra via WSI and Goulburn, with two departures each way daily, about three hours from the airport to the capital and introductory fares from A$29.99.

Taxis and rideshare are the most expensive option, and the least predictable. Unlike Kingsford Smith, where taxi fares to the CBD are capped at A$60, WSI has no fixed fare. Online estimates put a taxi to the city above A$190, and an Uber for the 50-minute trip was quoted at A$237 on opening day. Rideshare pick-ups use a dedicated zone with 10 kerbside bays, about 100 metres from the terminal. Drivers reach the terminal via the toll-free M12 Motorway, although the M7 and M4 links towards the city are tolled. The trip takes about an hour from the CBD depending on traffic, and the airport offers more than 6,000 spaces in four car parks, with launch rates from A$15 a day. Premium and Saver car parks are a two- to three-minute walk from the terminal, the long-stay car park is served by a free shuttle every 15 minutes, some car parks have electric vehicle chargers, and a free 15-minute express zone outside the terminal handles drop-offs and pick-ups. Six car rental companies operate on site: Sixt, Hertz, Avis, Budget, Europcar and Redspot.

Rail will change the equation, later than planned. The 23 km Metro line will connect WSI to St Marys in about 15 minutes, which should put the airport around 70 to 75 minutes from Central with the train connection. The six-station line is expected as early as late 2027 but could slip to mid-2028, after the Webuild-led consortium lodged claims that could add up to A$2.2 billion to the project, slowing station works.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Adam Leto, CEO, Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue, quoted by SBS News

For now, the timetable decides the transfer. Flight NZ165, which opened the airport at 7.27am on a Monday, lands well inside bus hours. Passengers on Qatar Airways’ 11.45pm arrivals from December 2027 will be better off with a car booked before they board.

Practical information