A plane will land and take off from Sydney’s new international airport for the first time on Wednesday afternoon, in a historic milestone for the aviation hub which is quickly taking shape near the foothills of the Blue Mountains.
Marking a new phase in the development of Western Sydney Airport, a test pilot is due to land and take off repeatedly in a Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche aircraft as part of critical testing of about 3000 aeronautical ground lights on the airport’s runway and approach.
Giant Xs on the runway signal to planes that they cannot land at Western Sydney Airport. They will be temporarily removed for the first flights on Wednesday.Credit: Wolter Peeter
The twin-engine aircraft will take off and land from both ends of the 3.7-kilometre runway during daylight, dusk and night-time conditions on Wednesday.
It is a little over two years until the first passenger aircraft is due to take off from Australia’s first new major airport since Melbourne’s Tullamarine opened in 1970.
Giant “X” signs on the runway at Western Sydney Airport will be temporarily removed for the first aircraft on Wednesday – and later reinstated, apart from during further testing – until the airport is operational. When in place, the signs serve as a warning to planes that they cannot land at the airport.
Western Sydney Airport chief executive Simon Hickey on the tarmac in front of the new terminal.Credit: Nick Moir
The flight tests on Wednesday are required by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the national regulator, and will ensure the runway lighting is fit for purpose when the first passenger planes take off in late 2026.
About 330 high-intensity lights are located on the approach to the runway at both ends, while 2800 ground lights are embedded in the runway and taxiways.
Western Sydney Airport chief executive Simon Hickey said the first flight was a significant milestone, and signalled that the curfew-free airport was entering a new phase after years of construction.
“We’re moving from being a construction site to being a testing site,” he said. “It certainly is that signal that we’re actually moving towards operations.”
In a sign of the diligence, the wheels of vehicles that are about to drive onto the runway, and taxiways, are washed down before entering the area, to remove any debris.
The new passenger terminal at Western Sydney Airport.Credit: Nick Moir
The giant roof of the airport’s passenger terminal was completed in July, and the focus is now on fitting out the interior, including the installation of an automated baggage handling system.
“The terminal is completely watertight. It’s all the internal works that we’re working on predominantly now,” said Hickey, a former head of Qantas’ international operations.
The airport’s taxiways have been built at 45-degree angles to the runway, which will make the average taxiing time to and from the terminal shorter than other airports at about five minutes.
Western Sydney Airport will be Australia’s first without a traditional air traffic control tower. More than 20 high-resolution cameras will beam vision to air traffic controllers in a centre about 20 kilometres away at Eastern Creek once the airport is operational.
Today’s historic moment will occur almost 105 years after Nigel Love, who founded Sydney Airport, made the first flight from Mascot on November 19, 1919, in an Avro 504K biplane carrying freelance movie photographer Billy Marshall.
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