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Western Sydney Airport (WSI) CEO Simon Hickey has predicted the airport will reach its capacity of 10 million annual passengers in the early 2030s.
Speaking to ABC’s The Business, Hickey said WSI is on track to begin operations in a year’s time, with four airlines – QantasLink, Jetstar, Singapore Airlines, and Air New Zealand – having all committed to fly from the airport.
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“We have the capacity to build up to 10 million annual passengers. We’re not trying to start where the capacity is full, and we’ll need to build more capacity. So what we’re doing, we’ve built that capacity, and we will grow,” he said.
“Our forecast is that we’ll be there in the early 2030s, which for a new airport in Australia, will be the fastest growth we’ve ever seen. So Adelaide airport is about 10 million annual passengers at this point in time, and obviously they’ve been around for over 50 years.
“So, we’ll grow into that capacity. We’re not trying to open full on day one.”
The airport will be classified as a primary gateway like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, rather than a secondary airport like Newcastle or Avalon, meaning it will be subject to tighter flight caps under some bilateral air service agreements.
According to Hickey, the regulation for the airport is a matter for the Federal Government, and he intends to work with regulators to open up more destinations.
“The aviation market is a highly regulated market, and that’s up to the federal government to determine how they regulate that. As an operator within that market, we realise that we need to work with our regulator, and our regulator has declared us as a primary gateway,” he said.
“What that means is that we talk to them about where we think the focus for bilateral additional capacity should come in from bilateral discussions with those countries.
“We’ve been working closely with the Department of Infrastructure in order to be able to say what we’re looking for, and they’ve been helpful in opening up those markets. So we’re happy and comfortable that we need to sit as an operator in aviation, in the regulatory market.”
Hickey’s comments come after the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue (WSLD) called for a “more ambitious, multi‑year package” to bolster connectivity at WSI on top of the $16 million Western Sydney International Take-Off Fund, saying other airports have received far more funding.
The WSLD suggested this could include “a suite of incentives commonly used in other international markets”, such as waived landing fees, concessions on terminal rent, cooperative marketing funds, and destination promotion support.
