The first international commercial flight from Western Sydney International (WSI) has departed this morning for Auckland.
Air New Zealand flight NZ166 took off shortly after 9am as the first international departure from the airport. It comes after the plane touched down this morning after arriving from Auckland, marking the first international arrival for Sydney’s second airport. NZ165 landed at WSI at 7.27am from Auckland on Monday, 18 minutes earlier than expected. It marks the start of the airline’s travel to WSI, where it will fly three times weekly from Auckland.
NZ166 passengers Matt and Serena Ross said they were pleased with the option of a second airport in Sydney.
“It’s a milestone event, so it’s special to be part of that,” said Serena. “Having more options for Kiwi travellers to come here will be great.”
“It’s nice to see a flash new airport up and running,” said Matt, but added the opening of WSI came as “a bit of surprise”.
The couple took a long Uber ride to arrive at WSI. They had assumed when they booked their tickets they would be leaving from Kingsford-Smith Airport at Mascot.
“Glad we checked our tickets to verify what airport they were flying out of,” he said.
Air New Zealand will fly three times weekly to Auckland, serving the existing community and business ties between western Sydney and New Zealand. It will be followed by Singapore Airlines in November, and Fiji Airways and Qatar Airways next year.
Air New Zealand chief operations officer Kate Boyer said in “Western Sydney for us there’s a huge Kiwi population here, a big expat community, so there are friends and family connections.”
“There’s business and trade links, there’s cargo, so it’s a fantastic destination.”
Air New Zealand has probably the strongest Pacific destination network in the world, Boyer said with “huge connections into all of the Pacific islands that we serve.”
In opening flights to WSI, the airline expects to be “able to connect people back to their family in New Zealand or the broader Pacific region.”
There are hopes by the federal government that this curfew-free airport offers the kind of flexibility for international carriers that helps bring in more business and visitors and allows for more flexibility for Australians going abroad.
While Sydney’s time difference with New Zealand is only two hours, coordinating connections for long-haul flights at much more distant hubs in Asia or the Middle East is more difficult from Australian airports where curfews apply.
Being able to take off and land 24 hours a day is expected to aid long-haul carriers serving Australia.
WSI’s first domestic flight – a Jetstar flight to the Gold Coast – took place yesterday.
And some are hopeful that flying from WSI will give Air New Zealand a bigger slice of the trans-Tasman travel.
Trans-Tasman corporate bookings are on the rise, increasing 8.4 per cent year-on-year, according to Flight Centre data.
Flight capacity across all carriers on the Australia-New Zealand route is also on track to grow through the rest of the year, Flight Centre said, with seat numbers rising seven and eight per cent year-on-year in the final three months of the year.
Air New Zealand’s flight will give the western Sydney business community “direct access to New Zealand for the first time,” said Renos Rologas, ANZ General Manager of FCM Travel, Flight Centre Travel Group’s corporate travel outfit.
“It’s also a fitting backdrop for this quarter’s booking growth, led by construction, manufacturing, and healthcare and social assistance – sectors with people and projects on the ground on both sides of the Tasman.”
Air New Zealand general manager of short haul, Lucy Hall, said that for businesses and travellers across western Sydney, WSI “provides a new, convenient gateway to New Zealand” that also gives the wider Sydney market a fresh choice of two airports.
For some customers, it will ease the journey to and from the airport, and for those who travel for work, this will be a plus.
“Together, the additional capacity, new airport options and greater flexibility give us real confidence about the opportunity for trans-Tasman business travel over the year ahead,” Hall said.
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Chris Zappone is a senior reporter covering aviation and business. He is former digital foreign editor.Connect via X, Facebook or email.From our partners
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