Aviation fanatics have seized their chance to be a part of history as the first flight from Australia’s youngest airport takes off.
Western Sydney International Airport, also known as Nancy-Bird Walton Airport, opened for its first commercial flights on Sunday after around eight years of construction and eight decades of planning.
The airport’s inaugural flight, a Jetstar service to the Gold Coast on Sunday morning, sold out in 45 minutes.
Self-described “aviation geek” Jack Coffey was one of the 188 people who secured a seat.
He left from his home in Newcastle at about 5am to fly to the Gold Coast before returning on the same day.
“I’m so excited. I cannot contain myself,” he told AAP before the plane took off.
“It’s a big part of aviation history today in Australia. I had to be here for the major milestone.”
Hundreds of punters also turned out to watch through the airport windows as the inaugural flight left the tarmac.
The aviation hub, located about 50km from the city centre, is the first major greenfield airport to open in Australia since Melbourne’s Tullamarine was unveiled in 1970.
It will operate without a curfew, unlike Sydney Airport, in the city’s south, which is closed to commercial flights between 11pm and 6am.
Western Sydney resident James Irwin was also making the round trip to the Gold Coast, bringing his parents along for the ride.
“I wanted to be a part of history,” he said.
“They move airports, they get new terminals, but somewhere with a brand new airport – when’s that going to happen again?”
He welcomed the opportunity to travel from an airport that was easier and cheaper to access from his home in Penrith, about a 25-minute drive from the site.
Pilot Aglaya Papadokokolakis, from Blacktown in western Sydney, said she was honoured to fly the first commercial plane out of an airport in her own backyard.
“This is a very special day,” she said.
“The whole community is excited.”
Construction on the airport began in 2018 after the Abbott government formally signed off on the Badgerys Creek location in 2014.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese officially opened the airport at a ceremony on Sunday morning.
Liberal prime ministers Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott were in the audience.
“Western Sydney International is our first new major airport for more than five decades and a wonderful new chapter in the life of our nation,” Mr Albanese told the crowd.
“This is Australia’s best airport, without question, in the way that it will function going forward.”
Many leaders have long believed Australia’s most populous city deserved an around-the-clock, second airport for both cargo and passengers.
The chief executive of WSA Co – established by the federal government to develop and operate the new facility – is confident the airport will deliver on the brief.
“It’s genuinely difficult to fathom the impact Western Sydney International will have on Greater Sydney,” Simon Hickey said at the opening event.
The airport was expected to host 10 million passengers annually by the 2030s and support up to 8,500 jobs.
The capacious Nancy-Bird Walton terminal – named for the pioneering Australian aviator – was designed through a selective competition.
Its design also incorporates First Nations references as well as material from the nearby Nepean River.
Seven international and domestic airlines will operate from the airport from the onset, with the first overseas flight touching down on Monday morning.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said around 13,000 people had helped the project come to life.
“What an extraordinary legacy for their families as they come past and come through this airport, being able to say: I’ve built this and I’ve built this for western Sydney,” Ms King said.
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