Jetstar is scheduled to lead passenger operations when Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport opens Sunday, Oct. 25, with no other domestic carrier listed for launch, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said. The Australian government says the first commercial departure will be a Jetstar Airbus A320 flight to the Gold Coast.
Jetstar's schedule includes as many as 14 weekly flights to Melbourne, daily Gold Coast service and three flights a week to Brisbane. Air New Zealand plans three return flights a week to Auckland from Oct. 26, followed by daily Singapore Airlines service from Nov. 23. Vietjet plans two weekly round trips to Ho Chi Minh City from Jan. 9, 2027, increasing to three a week in March. Fiji Airways plans three weekly flights to Nadi from March 19, 2027. Qantas plans four flights a week each to Melbourne and Brisbane from March 28, 2027.
The ACCC's September report said Virgin Australia had not announced plans to serve the airport. Bloomberg cited aviation data company Cirium for a forecast of no more than six scheduled flights per day over the next 12 months. The airport's approved first stage has capacity for up to 10 million passengers a year, a design limit rather than a projection of actual use.
The Australian government has grouped the airport with road projects and the planned Sydney Metro link in a Western Sydney investment program approaching A$18 billion. Bloomberg described the government-reported investment figure as A$5.6 billion (US$4 billion). The infrastructure minister's office had reported $5.6 billion invested as of Oct. 28, 2025, without identifying the currency or giving an overall project cost.
David Levinson, a transport professor at the University of Sydney, told Bloomberg, “The main airport is much more convenient to almost all travelers.” Until the Metro link opens in 2027, the airport says a free shuttle will run to St Marys station every 30 minutes, with the trip taking about half an hour. An express shuttle to Sydney City is advertised from A$55 one way for an adult.
