Western Sydney International Airport (WSI) will open in less than 1000 days, bringing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the NSW visitor economy.
The airport will change how international and domestic visitors access Sydney, regional NSW and Australia. Located 44km west of Sydney CBD, it will be the first airport in NSW with flights taking off and landing 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The new airport, which is more than 70 per cent complete, is on track to open to international, domestic and cargo services by late 2026.
It will have initial capacity for five million passenger movements and is expected to be Australia’s busiest airport by 2060, when 82 million passengers will pass through each year.
The Australian Government this week launched construction of the business precinct at WSI airport—a vital milestone for the project. Stage one of the business precinct will include modern warehouse space, offices, a 154-room hotel, conference centre, gym, and retail, food and beverage outlets.
Two visitor economy stakeholder engagement meetings have been held over the past week to highlight the benefits Western Sydney International Airport will bring to NSW.
Lights On Western Sydney - Visitor Economy Forum took place at the new Western Sydney Conference Centre on 5 April 2024.
Hosted by Penrith Valley Chamber in partnership with Blue Mountains Tourism, the forum attracted more than 220 visitor-economy-related stakeholders and featured a line-up of speakers including Western Sydney Airport CEO Simon Hickey, Sydney Metro chief executive Peter Regan, West HQ CEO Richard Errington and BESydney CEO Lyn Lewis-Smith.
Hickey said the first new greenfield airport in Australia since Melbourne Airport replaced Essendon in 1970 would ``connect the west to the rest and the rest to the west’’ supported by Australia’s $60 billion largest ever public/private rail infrastructure partnership.
Destination NSW CEO Steve Cox said Western Sydney International Airport would be a complete gamechanger for the visitor economy, providing opportunities for visitors to discover more of NSW and driving repeat visitation to the state.
Western Sydney welcomed one in five of the state’s international visitors in the year ending December 2023 and attracts 14 per cent of total international visitor expenditure in NSW. It represents 10 per cent of Australians today and is the nation’s third-largest city economy at $15.5 billion.
Lyn Lewis-Smith, CEO for Business Events Sydney, which secured 70 events worth $220 million in 2023, said Western Sydney was in a prime position to secure the ``sugar hit’’ of high-end corporate reward events in lucrative markets like Asia and India, especially when WSI opened.
Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue hosts Airport City Summit
Destination NSW joined 400 business, industry and government for the Airport City Summit 2024 on 11 April at the William Inglis Hotel in Warwick Farm.
Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue hosted the summit, which featured guest speakers including Federal Infrastructure, Transport and Local Government Minister Catherine King, who said the success and growth of Western Sydney was critical to our future national prosperity, with WSI expected to increase value-add in the Australian economy in 2063 by $5.8 billion per year.
The Airport City Summit explored the key investment, transport, infrastructure, industry attraction and job opportunities the once-in-a-generation major infrastructure project will deliver for the region.
Other key speakers included NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully, Western Sydney International Airport Chief Executive Officer Simon Hickey, Secretary of NSW Department of Planning, Housing & Infrastructure Kiersten Fishburn and Western Sydney University Chancellor and Western Parkland City Authority Chair Prof. Jennifer Westacott AO.
Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue CEO Adam Leto said: “The region has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to grow jobs, provide housing and attract investment that will support local businesses, drive innovation and build a strong economy.
“Realising these opportunities requires industry attraction, skills development and employment creation to come together. It’s critical that we now build on the momentum the airport opening delivers and unlock our region’s unlimited potential.”