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Australia’s largest 24-hour gateway saw annual international passengers surpass 12 million for the first time, across more than 57,000 flights, with December 2025 also marking Melbourne’s busiest month on record since its opening in 1970.
Operating as flight QF7301, Qantas Freight’s A321 freighter VH-XF5 touched down at WSI at around 2pm on Monday afternoon after a short hop from Sydney Kingsford Smith as part of a continuing testing program for the new airport.
Developed following “extensive consultation with community and industry throughout July and August 2025”, Airservices says the new plan will reduce noise impacts from the airport for around 140,000 people.
The completed arrivals area features a new U-shaped baggage claim carousel, as well as a Tasmania-designed outdoor forecourt. According to Hobart Airport CEO Norris Carter, the airport’s terminal expansion is now two-thirds complete, with new departure gates having opened earlier this year.
The changes, approved earlier this year, affect all flights in the Sydney area, including from Kingsford Smith, WSI, and Bankstown Airport. In a post on LinkedIn, Airservices hailed the overhaul as “one of the most significant airspace transformations in Australia's aviation history”.
The first of 12 three-carriage Siemens trains was unloaded at Port Kembla last week and trucked to the new Stabling and Maintenance Facility at Orchard Hills for assembly, having travelled 23,000 kilometres by ship from Vienna.
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