Sydney's Second Airport Never Closes: WSI Cleared for 24-Hour Operations, and the Old Curfew Exemptions Die the Same Day
Two changes landed on the same date and they belong in one story: Sydney's air cargo map has been redrawn. Here is the short version, item by item.
- The gazettal: the Australian Government set November 1, 2026 as the date Western Sydney International (WSI) opened for night aircraft movements, under a dedicated instrument of the Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995. WSI now runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no curfew at all.
- The airport itself: the first passenger flight, Jetstar JQ362 to the Gold Coast, departed October 25 with inaugural tickets sold out in 45 minutes; Air New Zealand's NZ165 from Auckland was the first international arrival the next day. Freighter operations began earlier - the 24-hour cargo precinct has been running since July 27, lifting Sydney's total air cargo capacity by roughly 33 percent.
- The offsetting cut: from November 1, the exemptions that let freighter aircraft, noise-compliant propeller aircraft up to 34,000 kg and specified jets up to 34,000 kg operate at Kingsford Smith during the 11 pm - 6 am curfew no longer apply. Those overnight freighter movements shift to WSI; the curfew and the 80-movements-per-hour cap at SYD stay in place.
- The scale: A$5.3 billion of Commonwealth funding built the airport; the 3.7 km runway takes everything up to the A380. Stage one is sized for 10 million passengers a year and the site is designed for up to 1.8 million tonnes of cargo annually, with a master plan reaching 82 million passengers by the 2060s - four decades after the Badgerys Creek site was first designated.
- The route map: Singapore Airlines starts a daily Singapore service on November 23; Vietjet plans Ho Chi Minh City in January 2027; Fiji Airways adds Nadi from March 19, 2027; Qantas joins March 28, 2027; Qatar Airways is scheduled for Doha in December 2027.
Three checks before your next air shipment to Australia. Confirm which airport your freighter actually uses - the two fields sit tens of kilometres apart, with different customs brokers and trucking catchments, so delivery times cannot be copied from old Sydney routings. Treat the curfew-free night window as a negotiating point for peak-season capacity. And build in buffer for early WSI volumes: the M12 motorway is open, but the airport metro line only arrives in late 2027. Integrated air and ocean options for Australia are on our Australia route page.
Source: Based on Australian Aviation, AviNews, AirPro News (citing The Guardian) and statements from Australia's Department of Infrastructure and Transport.
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