When any organisation or business has a monopoly, it’s tough to blame them for wanting to preserve that economic paradise. Incentives are such that barring duplicitous corporate tactics or criminal behaviour, maintaining dominance in the market is as inherent to businesses as being charismatic is to Margot Robbie.
Sydney’s only major airport is no exception.
While clearly Sydney’s growing population has required a second international airport for decades, the jostling from Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD) about its new rival out west has already begun.
A few months ago, SYD made a submission to a draft assessment about the impact Western Sydney Airport’s (WSI) flight paths may have on the surrounding environment, and in that submission, claimed that unless decisions were reversed about changes to its curfew, international carriers would start exiting the market.
Under Section 12(4)(b)(ii) of the Curfew Act, when the 24-hour WSI opens, all SYD’s flexibility for use of shoulder periods at SYD will cease, a crimp on commerce SYD is clearly hoping to avoid.
In a preview of the potential friction that may exist between the two Sydney airports once WSI opens in 2026, SYD argued that limiting the shoulder period between 5-6am would prevent key services from landing in Sydney, such as those from London in the northern summer.
“Preventing those flights from doing so would cause significant disruptions for those airlines and the travelling public,” SYD argued.
The hub’s management added that if the flights were unable to land at SYD, they will not automatically go to WSI, as airlines may instead choose not to fly to Australia.
“If [airlines] do move to WSI, this simply moves the noise impact during the current curfew shoulder periods to the communities around WSI.”
But when TB spoke to WSI CEO Simon Hickey last week on the eve of announcing Singapore Airlines as its first international carrier, he argued that WSI’s 24/7 operations would only bring greater economic opportunities, not just in Western Sydney, but for wider Australia.
“An economy of the size and strength of Sydney globally is rare for it not to have 24-hour airport, and so yes, we do compete for the international traveller, and we do compete for tourism here in in Sydney but it will be a boost for all of Australia,” Hickey explains.
“I anticipate that we will see growth across the eastern seaboard of aviation connectivity, we’ve already seen a new runway built in Brisbane, one that’s being considered in Melbourne, and we’ve seen additional capacity as well in Perth.”
“What we’re actually seeing is that WSI is a catalyst for aviation across all of Australia and I think that’s a really fantastic thing.”
While Hickey declined to be drawn on what other international airlines will sign on the dotted line to access WSI, he did reveal there were discussions in progress with “multiple international carriers”, and that he was more than confident of attracting a plethora of additional interest from overseas.
One distinct advantage WSI will have over most hubs around the country is the rich multicultural fabric of the Western Sydney, a significant number of diaspora communities which will make flying to the hub an attractive proposition for carriers who can tap into fertile VFR traffic.
“We’ve made a great announcement with Singapore Airlines flying to Changi and that obviously connects across Asia, and I can see over time a really wonderful network across Asia Pacific from WSI, given the diaspora that we have here,” Hickey says.
“The real strength of the VFR market that you get given that diaspora, and the 170 different ancestries here, is the great economic ties and the ability to grow new business.”
The 24/7 nature of WSI will also provide a major boon for business travel, Hickey contends, with the greater flexibility for corporate travellers acting as a major incentive for countries around the world to engage more with Australia.
Speaking specifically about its foundation partner Singapore Airlines, Hickey said that WSI will allow business travellers to finish a full day’s work in Sydney, take an overnight flight back to Changi and arrive before their first morning meeting the next day.
“That really provides the business community with another way to get to Singapore…and one that they do not currently have from Sydney Airport,” Hickey says.
Another advantage WSI will have is being able to service the emerging economic giant that is the Western Sydney economy – the third-largest in the country.
“[Western Sydney] really is a powerhouse,” Hickey enthuses.
“The population is growing at over 10% per annum while the rest of Sydney is growing at point 0.4% per annum, it has a slightly younger and very ambitious demographic who are very keen to travel and visit family and relatives.
“Western Sydney will continue to grow and this is a real opportunity with WSI to anchor more businesses and more jobs for that growing community, not just for now but for generations to come.”
While most airports have to keep up-to-date with capacity and technology through a piecemeal approach over time, Hickey explains there are many benefits to leading a greenfield project like WSI – one being that the planning can try to avoid the mistakes made by other major hubs in history.
“We have the opportunity to bring what we consider to be the best of all airports and bring them together in one place,” Hickey explains.
“It means for example that we can consider things such as sustainability by design and taxi times, with our fast taxiways it will be on average five minutes to transport passengers, that compares to other airports which are around the 19-minute mark.
“We also have domestic and international under one roof, which provides the ability to have very fast connection times.
“We’ve had a metro from day one at the airport, we have swing capacity between international and domestic, so that we can actually extend our peaks – there are slightly different peaks between international and domestic.
“There’s a lot of benefits that you can think through around the use of technology, the ability to integrate technology, and the ability to be able to give great transport outcomes to people of all abilities and being able to think that through from the from scratch is a real benefit.”
Tourism operators in Western Sydney and surrounding regions will also have plenty to cheer about when WSI opens, with Hickey explaining the real prize will be the option of overnight visitation.
“With WSI in close proximity to places like the Blue Mountains for example, it will provide the ability for people to take advantage of better visitation opportunities.
“So that means we can get international tourists to stay at the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains on their first night, and the first couple of days can be spent exploring all of the beautiful things the Blue Mountains has to offer before going down to look at Sydney Harbour.
“So, all of the gems of Western Sydney will open up in a way that has not been available to international travellers in the past – particularly with the VFR market.”
The WSI will open to the public from late 2026.
