At 11.22am on Sunday 25 October 2026, a Jetstar Airbus A320 lifted off from Western Sydney International Airport and turned north for the Gold Coast. Flight JQ362 was the first commercial passenger flight from Sydney’s second major airport, and the first from a major new Australian airport in more than half a century.

Hundreds of guests watched from the departure gates, many of them people who had spent years getting the airport built. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opened the terminal by unveiling a commemorative plaque. In June, Afterburner previewed the airport that never closes. Now it is open, and it will not be closing at night.

Sold out in 45 minutes

According to the Guardian, which had a reporter on board, JQ362 carried 188 passengers. Thirty seats were reserved for media and VIP guests, and the airline said the other 158 sold out in 45 minutes. On the flight deck were Captain Guy Proctor of the Gold Coast and First Officer Aglaya Papadokokolakis, 25, who grew up in Blacktown in western Sydney.

The return flight, JQ363, was due back at Western Sydney at 3pm, and the airport’s first departure to Melbourne was scheduled for 6pm, the ABC reported. Freight has been flying from the airport since July. Sunday was the day the passengers arrived.

Western Sydney International’s own film of opening day, from the speeches in the terminal to the first Jetstar flight.

Built to run all night

The defining feature is the clock. Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport is bound by a curfew between 11pm and 6am. Western Sydney International has no curfew and is designed to run 24 hours a day, which lets airlines schedule late-night and red-eye departures that are impossible at the older airport.

Stage 1 is a single 3.7-kilometre runway and one terminal that handles both domestic and international flights, sized for about 10 million passengers a year. The airport sits at Luddenham, near Badgerys Creek, around 45 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD. With more terminals and a second runway, chief executive Simon Hickey told the ABC it could eventually reach 82 million passengers a year, in the 2060s.

The price tag depends on who is counting. The Guardian and The Australian describe a A$5.3 billion airport, the Sydney Morning Herald’s report of the opening used $6 billion, and Simple Flying put the build at $14 billion. Construction began in 2018, four years after the Abbott government confirmed Badgerys Creek as the site.

Who flies from Western Sydney

Jetstar is first. It plans up to 14 weekly flights to Melbourne, a daily Gold Coast service and three flights a week to Brisbane, with Bali to follow in March, according to the Sydney Morning Herald and Simple Flying. Air New Zealand becomes the first international carrier on Monday 26 October, with flight NZ165 due from Auckland at 7.55am.

Singapore Airlines follows on 23 November. Simple Flying lists Vietjet from January 2027 and Fiji Airways from March 2027, with Qatar Airways committed to a Doha service from late 2027. Qantas joins on 28 March 2027 with Embraer E190 flights to Melbourne and Brisbane. SBS counts seven passenger airlines committed so far.

It is a slow start, and nobody pretends otherwise. A Sydney Metro rail line to the airport is still under construction, so passengers rely on roads, buses and a shuttle for now. Hickey said the airport expects to grow towards its 10-million-passenger capacity in the early to mid 2030s.

The Angel of the Outback

The airport’s official name is Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport. Nancy Bird took flying lessons in 1933 at the new school of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, earned her commercial licence at 19 and bought a de Havilland Gipsy Moth. From 1935 she flew a medical service across the outback of New South Wales, and she became known as “The Angel of the Outback”.

She founded the Australian Women Pilots’ Association in 1950 and died in 2009. The first Qantas A380 was named after her, the aircraft that later flew as QF32. Then Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the airport’s name in March 2019. On Sunday, her daughter and granddaughters were among the guests.

ABC News captures the cheers as the first passenger flight departs Sydney’s second airport.

Abbott, who was also in the crowd, predicted a slow start followed by decades of growth. For the moment, Western Sydney International has a handful of routes and a runway that never has to switch off. At 11.22am on Sunday, it finally started using it.

Sources: Sydney Morning Herald, ABC News, The Guardian, SBS News, Simple Flying, The Australian, Western Sydney Airport, Wikipedia (Western Sydney Airport; Nancy Bird Walton)