Singapore Airlines is the first international airline to green light direct flights into the new Western Sydney Airport when it opens in 2026.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, with Transport Minister Catherine King, confirmed the deal today, saying it will open Western Sydney up to the rest of the world.
“Singapore Airlines is recognising the opportunity that investing here will bring them,” he said at a press conference.
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“Because by having Singapore Airlines as the first international airline to commit from overseas to use this airport, what it will do is give direct access into all those markets Singapore Airlines flies to in that wonderful hub that is there at Changi Airport.
“I thank our friends in Singapore.
“It’s wonderful that Singapore Airlines, one of the world’s best, is the first international airline to choose Western Sydney Airport as one of its bases it comes to.”
King, also at the press conference, echoed the sentiment, thanking the carrier for its vote of confidence in Western Sydney.
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”This airport is getting well and truly ready for takeoff,” she said.
King also teased talks with Turkish Airlines and Vietnam Airlines, who she said were welcomed at the new airport.
“I’ve got other countries who are talking to me all the time as part of our bilateral negotiations in order to keep ahead with that capacity and demand and the (Western Sydney International Airport) obviously forms part of that,” she said.
The news is a major victory for the $5.3 billion project, and also Australia’s third-largest economy, as it nears completion.
The ink has also set on a previous deal with Qantas and its budget airline Jetstar, which will operate domestic flights out of the new airport.
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The airport anticipates it will service 10 million passengers a year out of its Badgerys Creek location with the capacity to grow to 80 million passengers each year in 2060.
Works are about 85 per cent done and on track for the airport to open by the end of 2026 — about eight years after construction began.
Once completed, the site will be about twice the size of Sydney Kingsford Airport.
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