Qantas Group to Launch WSI from 25 Oct and March 2027

[LionKing]

Qantas and Jetstar strike deal to start flights from Western Sydney

After months of wrangling, the national carrier has reached agreement to get passengers moving in and out of the new Western Sydney International Airport.

www.afr.com

Jetstar will commence flights from 25 Oct:

14 Weekly to MEL
4 Weekly to OOL
3 Weekly to BNE

Qantas will launch from March 2027:

4 Weekly to MEL
4 Weekly to BNE

Both will be operated by E190 aircraft

Tickets will be made available from 10 June 2026.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I am struggling to understand, 4 weekly Qantas MEL-WSI? I expected 4x daily!

 

[jase05]

I am struggling to understand, 4 weekly Qantas MEL-WSI? I expected 4x daily!

It’s only a start.
Not sure why everyone things WSI is going to have hundreds of daily flights from the outset. It’s being built for growth over the next 20-30 years.
Maybe in a year or so they are doing multiple daily’s to ports like MEL

 

[Aussie_flyer]

It’s only a start.
Not sure why everyone things WSI is going to have hundreds of daily flights from the outset. It’s being built for growth over the next 20-30 years.
Maybe in a year or so they are doing multiple daily’s to ports like MEL

Hmmmm, who said hundreds of daily ? Not even a daily flight to Melbourne though? It's a joke actually .

 

[RooFlyer]

Hmmmm, who said hundreds of daily ? Not even a daily flight to Melbourne though? It's a joke actually .

Well, we know Qantas is short of aircraft, so mebbe its not all WSI's fault.

 

[Chrizztofa]

It’s only a start.
Not sure why everyone things WSI is going to have hundreds of daily flights from the outset. It’s being built for growth over the next 20-30 years.
Maybe in a year or so they are doing multiple daily’s to ports like MEL

A lot of commentary references comments made in a press release about QF group basing 15 aircraft at WSI and handling "25,000 flights" and "four million passengers per annum" (admittedly using the imprecise term "within the first year").

National carrier to land in Western Sydney | WSI

• Qantas and Jetstar first airlines to sign up to Sydney’s new airport • Up to 15 aircraft and 700 jobs in the region• Airport on track to open in late 2026• Both airlines and airport working to use sustainable fuels to power flights The Qantas Group and Western Sydney International Airport have...

www.wsiairport.com.au

So it's a bit of a letdown to go from 15 aircraft operating ~240 return flights per week to just 29! QF/JQ probably feel they can do this since VA aren't competing at WSI and possibly depressed demand from higher fuel prices / higher airfares.

I do think it'll come good in time, and hopefully it won't turn out like Avalon or Montreal-Mirabel...

 

[jase05]

Hmmmm, who said hundreds of daily ? Not even a daily flight to Melbourne though? It's a joke actually .

Of course it isn’t ideal but this is just the initial QF schedule.
I’m certain that in time the number of flights will increase and perhaps if sales a strong they may have even added extra flights or frequencies by time next year comes around.
Maybe Qf don’t have the aircraft required either just yet

 

[RooFlyer]

Qantas up to now had no announced flights to WSI

"Qantas not flying into WSI? - poor."

______________

Qantas announces 4 weekly to MEL and BNE:

"What? Only 4 weekly - poor."


Later: Qantas announces daily to Melbourne:

"What? only once daily - poor"


Later: Qantas announces twice daily to Melbourne:

"What? Only twice daily - poor"

etc.

 

[moa999]

it's a bit of a letdown to go from 15 aircraft operating

Agreed.
That initial JQ schedule of 21 flights per week could probably be operated with a single aircraft

For launch schedule say something like this (DST times).
Albeit QF might want to keep some of those more popular business flight times for itself when it launches next year


WSI 0700 MEL 0830
MEL 0900 WSI 1030
WSI 1100 OOL/BNE 1130
OOL/BNE 1200 WSI 1430
WSI 1600 MEL 1730
MEL 1800 WSI 1930

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Qantas up to now had no announced flights to WSI

"Qantas not flying into WSI? - poor."

______________

Qantas announces 4 weekly to MEL and BNE:

"What? Only 4 weekly - poor."


Later: Qantas announces daily to Melbourne:

"What? only once daily - poor"


Later: Qantas announces twice daily to Melbourne:

"What? Only twice daily - poor"

etc.

Hmm, what were you expecting Qantas to announce for WSI-MEL frequency? This pathetic offering of 4x a week is almost asking for it to fail in my view. I was looking forward to using the airport for my regular trips to western Sydney but this is useless to me.

 

[RooFlyer]

Hmm, what were you expecting Qantas to announce for WSI-MEL frequency? This pathetic offering of 4x a week is almost asking for it to fail in my view. I was looking forward to using the airport for my regular trips to western Sydney but this is useless to me.

I honestly had no expectations of what Qantas would announce. As I said, we know Qantas is short of aircraft so it didn’t surprise me at all that they’ve started with a minimal offering. They could’ve held back for a year or so waiting to see how the traffic at the airport develops, but at least they found wherewithal for some sort of presence.

What’s the downside? None really - pax who the initial schedule don’t suit continue to head over to SYD, as now.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I honestly had no expectations of what Qantas would announce. As I said, we know Qantas is short of aircraft so it didn’t surprise me at all that they’ve started with a minimal offering. They could’ve held back for a year or so waiting to see how the traffic at the airport develops, but at least they found wherewithal for some sort of presence.

What’s the downside? None really - pax who the initial schedule don’t suit continue to head over to SYD, as now.

The downside is it's a rubbish schedule. Simple, as, that.

 

[Saab34]

Probably more just using Alliance assets before the wet lease ends later next year. Will be interesting if it’s routes Brisbane to Melbourne via WSI, Brisbane is the larger Alliance base.

I don’t believe Jetstar has had any discussion with crew for a WSI base yet so these flights are likely to be operated from other bases.

I still feel like 15 aircraft based is way too many, for a long time anyway. Let see if Jetstar trim back its Mascot services slightly to offset this.

 

[Mwenenzi]

QF newsroom 06:17 10-06-2026

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-jetstar-flights-western-sydney-international

<snip>
Jetstar will make history as the first commercial passenger flight to take off from the airport when JQ362 departs at 11am on 25 October to the Gold Coast. The airline will operate up to 14 flights a week between WSI and Melbourne, four weekly flights to the Gold Coast and three weekly flights to Brisbane*. All flights will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft.

Qantas operations will begin on 28 March 2027 with four flights per week to both Melbourne and Brisbane on a QantasLink Embraer E190.
<snip>

 

[offshore171]

I am struggling to understand, 4 weekly Qantas MEL-WSI? I expected 4x daily!

Probably cautious about overcommitting before demand is better understood.

Much easier to add capacity if required than having to make mass cancellations due to lack of demand.

 

[mbe1510]

Must say I did not expect such few flights from Qantas, but that speaks to issues started by their previous CEO who did not see a single aircraft that he ordered get delivered under his watch.

Suppose Qantas has to cut flights elsewhere to grow WSI and probably just wants to see how a handful of flights perform before tweaking frequency elsewhere.

The NSW government has plans to make it the third CBD of Sydney so the airport won't fail.

 

[markis10]

Suppose Qantas has to cut flights elsewhere to grow WSI and probably just wants to see how a handful of flights perform before tweaking frequency elsewhere.

No need for any cuts given the incoming deliveries of A321 and A220. At the moment it is a chess game of who moves when it comes to airlines.

 

[WilsonM]

I reckon it'll develop similar to NTL (although admittedly, I hope it'll grow beyond) - first few years of JQ, before demand, especially some corporate/business, firms up, then QF Link/mainline becomes more dominant. But it'll take time. Customers are often slow to adapt to change.

And also, QF and JQ work harmoniously in this regard - in their view, there's 18 flights weekly to MEL.