International visitors on flagship flights, including Qantas’ A380 service from London, will have to land 50 kilometres away from the Sydney CBD in western Sydney unless the government legislates changes to rules governing arrivals at the country’s biggest airport.

Sydney Airport chief executive Scott Charlton said the current law allows for 24 passenger flights to land outside the curfew between 5am and 6am – but only until a new airport is built at Badgerys Creek in western Sydney. That leaves the future of flights including Qantas’ QF2 from Singapore and London up in the air.