SINGAPORE – Singapore Airlines (SIA) has become the first international airline to partner an upcoming airport in Sydney’s west, located about 7km from the famed Blue Mountains.
SIA will operate flights to Western Sydney International Airport – which is 80 per cent completed – when it opens in late 2026, the airport said on Aug 27.
The airline is in discussions with the airport regarding flight operations, an SIA spokesperson told The Straits Times in response to queries on when services are expected to start, and the number of flights.
Western Sydney Airport is Australia’s first greenfield airport in more than 50 years, and is located about 41km from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport and 44km from Sydney’s Central Business District (CBD). A greenfield site is a place that has not been previously built on.
According to data from aviation data consultancy OAG, SIA now operates four flights a day from Changi Airport to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, while its low-cost arm, Scoot, operates 10 flights a week to the city.
The route is also served by British Airways, which operates one flight a day, and Australian flag carrier Qantas, which operates two daily flights.
“Australia is an important market for the SIA Group, and the demand for air travel to and from Sydney remains robust,” SIA said.
SIA’s passenger load factor for the south-west Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand, was 90 per cent in July, down from 92.3 per cent in July 2023.
The airline’s Singapore-Sydney route is served by the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft – the largest aircraft in its fleet.
The single-runway Western Sydney Airport will be able to handle up to 10 million passengers a year. There are plans to add a second runway as demand grows.
Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, which is close to the city’s CBD, has a night curfew, while Western Sydney Airport will be allowed to operate round the clock.
Western Sydney Airport chief executive Simon Hickey said the airport’s 24-hour operations “could allow (SIA’s) business travellers to finish a full day’s work in Sydney, take an overnight flight and arrive in Singapore before their first morning meeting the very next day”.
“Late-night departures could also allow passengers to transit more swiftly from Singapore, to connect to one of the 125 destinations served by the SIA Group,” he added.
Mr Mayur Patel, head of Asia at OAG, said SIA’s arrangement with the airport is a positive step for the airline’s service development.
“Data shows that with operations at both airports, load factors can be maintained at elevated levels given new opportunities for network development,” he said.
He pointed out that Sydney is set to join the likes of major cities such as London and Tokyo, where airlines operate from two airports in each city.
Mr Louis Arul, SIA’s regional vice-president for the south-west Pacific, said the agreement with Western Sydney Airport reflects the airline’s commitment to improving network connectivity for travellers to and from Sydney, and increasing services to Australia, according to a statement issued by Western Sydney Airport.
Ms Shilpa Bhouraskar, who lives in a town called Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, said it is great to have an airport closer to home because she travels a lot and it is not convenient to get to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.
The 47-year-old, a naturopath, transits through Singapore at least once a year to visit family and friends in India. She said it takes close to two hours to drive from her home to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, and that she has to leave home as early as 4am to catch a morning flight.
It is even harder to return home, she said. “Sometimes, we stay at a hotel overnight... or stay with friends, and then come home the next day. It can take 24 hours to get home from the time we land.”
She said the new airport will save her at least an hour of travel time.
But while she is excited to have an airport much closer to home, she is concerned about its effect on noise levels in her area.
“The Blue Mountains is a quiet, serene place. Usually people come to the mountains looking at getting away from the city, the noise, and the people,” she said.
