A Jetstar Airways Airbus A320 landed at Western Sydney International (WSI) on Aug. 31, marking the airport’s first trial passenger flight ahead of the scheduled services launching in October.
Cargo flights commenced at WSI on July 27. Qantas LCC subsidiary Jetstar is scheduled to operate the airport’s first passenger flight on Oct. 25 with an A320 bound for Gold Coast Airport (OOL). The trial flight had taken off from Melbourne Airport (MEL).
WSI will be Sydney's second airport, with initial capacity to handle 10 million annual passengers. Sydney Airport (SYD) handled 42.5 million passengers in 2025. WSI will operate 24 hr. daily in contrast to SYD, which has an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. flight curfew.
The Jetstar trial also included a departure from WSI. “Crew flew the arrival and departure exactly as they will in October, then worked through the ground side of the operation—the taxi route to the gate, lining up on the aerobridge and the turnaround that gets the aircraft back out again,” Jetstar Chief Pilot Tyrone Simes said.
WSI said volunteers participated as trial passengers, allowing the airport “to trial all stages of the terminal customer journey and associated services, systems and staff, as well as providing valuable feedback.”
Trial passengers checked in for their flight, went through security screening and utilized airport facilities as if they were traveling, according to WSI.
Even when trial flights are not landing and taking off, the airport is having hundreds of trial passengers use the facilities each week. “By October, we anticipate that thousands of participants will have engaged in our trial program … stress-testing our systems,” WSI COO Matt Duffy said. “We’re aiming to make [airport operations] … as fail-safe as they can be.”
Jetstar’s initial operations from WSI will include up to 14X-weekly flights to MEL, 4X-weekly service to OOL and 3X-weekly flights to Brisbane Airport (BNE).
Air New Zealand will start 3X-weekly service between WSI and Auckland on Oct. 26. Singapore Airlines will open daily flights between WSI and Singapore on Nov. 23. VietJet will commence 2X-weekly A330 service between WSI and Ho Chi Minh City from Jan. 10, 2027, adding a third weekly flight in March 2027.
Qantaslink Embraer 190s will begin serving WSI from March 28, 2027, with 4X-weekly flights to both BNE and MEL.
Thai VietJet will launch 4X-weekly flights between WSI and Bangkok in November 2027.
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