Australia Opens New International Airport in Sydney

Darwin, October 25: Australia’s new international airport has opened to passengers in Sydney. Passenger flights began operating on Sunday (October 25) from Western Sydney International Airport, located in the Badgerys Creek area of western Sydney.

Situated about 60 kilometres west of Sydney’s city centre, the airport will operate 24 hours a day.

Built at a cost of A$5.6 billion, the airport’s opening has been described by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as a major milestone for Australia’s most populous city. In a statement, he said the country had opened a major new airport for the first time in more than 50 years.

Airport authorities said a Jetstar flight was scheduled to depart for the Gold Coast on Sunday as the airport’s first passenger service. The new airport has the capacity to handle more than 80 million passengers annually.

Sydney’s existing airport has restrictions on aircraft movements between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. The new airport’s round-the-clock operations are expected to provide greater flexibility in flight schedules.

The Australian federal government acquired the land for the airport in the 1980s. Planning took around 15 years, followed by nearly seven years of construction, which was completed in July 2025. Cargo flights began operating from the airport in July this year.

Source: Reuters