Western Sydney airport welcomes first international passengers

Western Sydney International Airport, Australia’s first major new international airport in 50 years, received its first international passengers on 26 October 2026, when Air New Zealand flight NZ165 arrived from Auckland. The landing came one day after the airport opened and Jetstar started domestic flights.

The airport is about 60 kilometres west of central Sydney, at Badgerys Creek, and operates around the clock. Sydney’s existing Kingsford Smith Airport has a curfew from 11 pm to 6 am, so WSI has more scheduling flexibility. Public buses, taxis, rideshares and rental cars are available; drivers can use the toll-free M12 motorway.

WSI chief executive Simon Hickey called the airport "the most transformational piece of infrastructure our nation has seen since the Sydney Harbour Bridge." He said passengers will be able to reach more than 250 destinations "just over a year from now."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the opening a "milestone" that was "decades in the making." The airport is named after Nancy Bird Walton, Australia’s first female commercial pilot.

The single terminal combines domestic and international gates and has automated check-in and baggage technology. Initial annual capacity is 10 million passengers; the airport says it could eventually handle more than 80 million annually and become Australia’s primary gateway. Western Sydney has around 2.5 million residents and over 170 ancestries, according to WSI.

International services are already scheduled. Singapore Airlines will start daily Singapore flights on 23 November. Vietjet will fly to Ho Chi Minh City in January 2027, Fiji Airways to Nadi in March, and Qatar Airways to Doha from 15 December 2027. Jetstar operates domestic flights to the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Brisbane, while Qantas will join on 28 March 2027 with four weekly flights to each of Melbourne and Brisbane through QantasLink.

Kate Boyer, Air New Zealand’s chief operations officer for ground and inflight, said being the first international airline to land at WSI is "a rare moment in aviation history." She added that Auckland offers easy, frequent connections to destinations across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper said the Minns Labor Government used the $16 million Western Sydney International Take-Off Fund, established in 2025, to secure the Air New Zealand route. The airport is also the first in Australia to open with an all-digital arrivals process, the Australia Travel Declaration, which lets international passengers submit customs, immigration and biosecurity details electronically before arrival.