Anthony Albanese has declared the new Western Sydney International airport the nation’s best and applauded the former Coalition government for keeping the site in public hands. “This is an absolutely extraordinary day,” the prime minister said on Sunday at the official opening of the airport at Badgerys Creek in Sydney’s west, the culmination of decades of planning and political consternation over a location.“This is not Sydney’s second airport. This is not even western Sydney’s best airport. This is Australia’s best airport.”
The more than 40 years since the Badgerys Creek land was
acquired by the Hawke government had been worth the wait, Albanese said.
He complimented former Liberal prime ministers Tony
Abbott and Scott Morrison – who were both present for the opening – for keeping
the airport public.
As a former infrastructure minister and later shadow
minister, Albanese was heavily involved in the airport’s construction from the
beginning.
“I remember the discussions I had with people as shadow
minister about getting the decision right, which the former government did, of
keeping it in public hands rather than having common ownership across the two
major Sydney airports,” he said.
“That is what will drive competition here. That is what
will make it a success. And the former government got that right.”
The airport officially opened
to passengers on Sunday, and the inaugural commercial service from the $6
billion facility was Jetstar’s JQ362 to the Gold Coast, departing at 11am.
The fully booked flight was the first to leave a new
greenfield airport in Australia since Melbourne’s Tullamarine opened in 1970.
Western Sydney residents Corinne Leslie and her
seven-year-old son Ethan reacted to the airport architecture with awe.
“It’s amazing,” said Ethan, who was invited by flight
staff to give the cabin announcement.
Leslie said the journey had been a seamless 30 minutes
from their western Sydney home.
“It was a great run out from home. There was no traffic,
and it is a perfect day for flying,” she said.
James Irwin and his elderly parents Lyn and Pat Irwin
were also among the first to fly on Sunday.
For the family of self-professed “travel enthusiasts”
from Penrith, it was an opportunity to be part of a historic moment.
“I’m here to be part of history,” said James. “To be part
of something brand new … it represents the west.”
The first flight to land will be JQ375 from Melbourne at
3pm, and the first service to Melbourne takes off at 6pm.
The new airport, also known as the Nancy-Bird Walton
Airport after the aviation pioneer, opened after almost seven years of
construction and eight decades of discussion and planning.
Construction began in 2018 after the Abbott government
formally signed off on the Badgerys Creek site in 2014.
The multibillion-dollar airport is modular, with space to
expand to four terminals and add a second runway.
The facility can scale up to handle more than 80 million
passengers a year by the 2060s.
So far, seven
passenger carriers have committed to servicing the new airport, but a metro
train link is still under construction and the main access is by road.
Bus services are moving passengers between the airport
and a station at St Marys in Sydney’s west, linking it to the rail network.
Madeleine Bower is flying on the first Jetstar flight
as a guest of Jetstar