First freighter lands at Western Sydney Airport

“This is the largest plane to land at Western Sydney International Airport so far, as we get ready to open for freight services,” said Acting Minister for Transport Kristy McBain.

“The new airport will connect Western Sydney to the world, allowing us to move produce and goods from every corner of the state to new markets across the globe.”

Qantas Freight was the first cargo airline to announce services to WSI, and its executive manager Igor Kwiatkowski said the landing was “an important opportunity to test key procedures ahead of starting operations”.

“In just a few weeks, this new 24-hour facility will provide greater flexibility for our freight network, helping us meet growing demand for e-commerce and next-day deliveries,” he said.

“The airport will increase Sydney’s air cargo capacity helping us to move time-critical supplies around Australia and overseas in the months ahead.”

Kwiatkowski told reporters at the airport on Monday that WSI and its new freight facilities – including Qantas Freight’s new 24,000-square-metre terminal – could cut delivery times to western Sydney by hours.

VIEW ALL

>

“Air freight is about speed. The key thing about this facility is it’s significantly more automated than the operations that we have in some other ports today,” he said.

“So, for us, getting that reliability and consistency and speed for consumers is really important. The thing we don’t want is freight sitting in the warehouse. We want freight moving through as quickly as possible in both directions. So, that’s the thing we’re very focused on.

“We think we’ll get a much quicker speed of delivery, and actually create more time for consumers to shop domestically, because you can then shop later, pick up the parcel later, and deliver it still on time, because we need less time in the sheds to be able to do that.”

The airport is expected to handle at least 850 tonnes of freight per week at launch, with WSI CEO Simon Hickey saying it will have plenty of room to expand from there.

“We’ve utilised the latest technology and innovations to deliver a highly efficient, sustainable, and future-proofed Cargo Precinct. Our trials present an excellent opportunity to test these capabilities,” he said.

“I also want to acknowledge the huge amount of cooperation and coordination across WSI, together with our colleagues at Airservices Australia and our trusted Cargo Precinct partners to deliver this trial program. We look forward to welcoming our first commercial services later this month.”

Texel Air has also announced freight operations at Western Sydney, which will see its first official cargo flight – operated by Qantas Freight – on 27 July. The airport will see its first passenger services on 25 October.