Western Sydney Airport (WSI) Discussion

[stu961]

Here's a question - will airlines start selling "connecting flights" that fly into one airport and out of the other?

Seems nuts, but it happens in Tokyo, with some major carriers selling connecting flights involving the traveller getting themselves between Haneda and Narita. Even in Japan with very good ground transport, this is a pain. I think the official MCT for these itineraries is something like 3h30

Now imagine a foreign traveller flying in from say Europe, with an onward connection to Pacific islands or something, having to change airports at Sydney peak hour!

having just flown into HND and out of NRT I didn't find an issue at all... there's buses running every 30 mins or so that go literally terminal door to terminal door... takes about 1 hour... and costs $33 but this is Japan where public transport is super efficient

 

[moa999]

WSI should have fast trains in multiple directions, going out to Penrith, north into the Hills, south to Campbelltown, and east towards the city.

You realise the under construction short WSI Metro is costing more than twice the entire airport.

 

[kookaburra75]

Here's a question - will airlines start selling "connecting flights" that fly into one airport and out of the other?

Seems nuts, but it happens in Tokyo, with some major carriers selling connecting flights involving the traveller getting themselves between Haneda and Narita. Even in Japan with very good ground transport, this is a pain. I think the official MCT for these itineraries is something like 3h30

Now imagine a foreign traveller flying in from say Europe, with an onward connection to Pacific islands or something, having to change airports at Sydney peak hour!

Like this....?

Viral TikTok puts spotlight on airline service that offers bus ride instead of flight

An American Airlines passenger said in a now-viral TikTok video that she was shocked when she realized she would be taking a bus rather than a plane to her destination.

abcnews.com

 

[stu961]

Like this....?

Viral TikTok puts spotlight on airline service that offers bus ride instead of flight

An American Airlines passenger said in a now-viral TikTok video that she was shocked when she realized she would be taking a bus rather than a plane to her destination.

abcnews.com

not sure if I would admit to this........ file under "travel mistakes"!! or natural selection

 

[HS-TQE]

Fiji Airways has shown interest in NAN-WSI under newly minted CEO Paul Scurrah (a former VA 1.0 CEO). No decisions to be made yet, but interest also extends to other ports (i.e PER? AVV? MCY?)

FTE 2026: Fiji Airways CEO on Western Sydney Airport, higher fares, ‘latent demand’ & his ‘clear mission’

Five months after taking on the role of CEO, Paul Scurrah says the next chapter for Fiji Airways is less about maintaining momentum and more about sharpening its strategy.

karryon.com.au

 

[Chatswood]

Fiji Airways has shown interest in NAN-WSI under newly minted CEO Paul Scurrah (a former VA 1.0 CEO). No decisions to be made yet, but interest also extends to other ports (i.e PER? AVV? MCY?)

FTE 2026: Fiji Airways CEO on Western Sydney Airport, higher fares, ‘latent demand’ & his ‘clear mission’

Five months after taking on the role of CEO, Paul Scurrah says the next chapter for Fiji Airways is less about maintaining momentum and more about sharpening its strategy.

karryon.com.au

WSI seems natural given that half of Fiji-born population in Australia live in Sydney, and the top 10 suburbs they reside in are all close to WSI too.

I can see them running a 1am departure to arrive at about 6am to connect with a bank of domestic and Pacific Islands flights from NAN, but it won’t do much for eastbound international connecting traffic to North America. Then again Brisbane has one flight which does that and it’s got 1/3rd of the Fijian population of Sydney, so perhaps that might work for WSI?

 

[Himeno]

There's also the Canberra market. A lot of us the Murrays bus to get to Sydney International and back, to avoid paying the "Canberra Tax" on CBR-SYD flights and to avoid delays with fog or cancelled flights (which happens all too often). If Murrays set up a similar service to WSI, then that would work for us. The daytime flight would be a bonus.

I'm not sure they'd want to do that. They stop at SYD because it is on the way to Sydney Central. WSI would be too far out of the way.
The bus companies used to run services from Canberra to Sydney Central via Paramatta, but they stopped that about 15 years ago.
Greyhound also cut back their Canberra runs at some point. They used to have 2 daily to Melbourne and 5 or 6 daily to Sydney. Now it's just 1 daily to both.

 

[Harrison_133]

Air New Zealand have put Western Sydney flights on sale.

Commences 26 October 2026.

0750 arrival, 0900 departure.

Appears to be 3x weekly to begin with (Mon/Wed/Fri).

 

[jase05]

Air New Zealand is scheduled to start WSI-AKL flights in mid 2027.

https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/media-release/western-sydney-international-lands-air-new-zealand

Looks like they were correct when we were told NZ operations would start this year.
They’ll actually beat SQ to the start line

 

[aamslfc]

Thrice weekly seems pretty half-assed, but I suppose it fits with Air New Zealand's half-assed approach to running an airline. Launching after school and public holidays too, which is odd.

I suppose the Fri-Mon return allows a long weekend in AKL, but are there going to be many takers from that catchment?

Barely 20 bucks cheaper outbound, a few pennies cheaper inbound compared to NZ's SYD flights, and not significantly cheaper than QF return for the same dates in the inaugural week... so, why bother?

I don't think AKL is a huge market for Western Sydney, but it's surprising the cheapskates couldn't even be bothered to launch the route with special fares to get some attention and boost early loads.

 

[Saab34]

New Zealand’s national carrier is also allowing passengers with existing bookings from/to Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD) ticketed on or before Thursday, 2 April, to change their travel to a WSI service “without penalty, fare difference within the same cabin or tax difference”.

Air New Zealand will allow premium cabin customers booked from Sydney to switch to WSI by rebooking new tickets and refunding originals. Refunds require endorsement, noting the WSI launch.

 

[LionKing]

Air New Zealand have put Western Sydney flights on sale.

Commences 26 October 2026.

0750 arrival, 0900 departure.

Appears to be 3x weekly to begin with (Mon/Wed/Fri).

No Business Class on those flights?

 

[aamslfc]

No Business Class on those flights?

Nope, slum class only on the A320s

 

[AuSammy]

There are around 38-40k New Zealanders living in Western Sydney LGA.

 

[markis10]

There are around 38-40k New Zealanders living in Western Sydney LGA.

There are around 38-40k New Zealanders living in Western Sydney LGA bro!

 

[Aeryn]

And about triple that is the eastern suburbs and city.

Air NZ doesnt offer J domestically in NZ and rarely across the ditch, pretty much a LCC unless flying longhaul from AKL.

 

[SYD]

And about triple that is the eastern suburbs and city.

Not anymore.

A lot moved north to the Gold Coast / Brissie decades ago.

 

[AuSammy]

Not anymore.

A lot moved north to the Gold Coast / Brissie decades ago.

Correct about even split between Western Sydney and rest of greater Sydney.

Around 85K all up.

So definitely not 2-3 times as claimed.

 

[elanshin]

Thrice weekly seems pretty half-assed, but I suppose it fits with Air New Zealand's half-assed approach to running an airline. Launching after school and public holidays too, which is odd.

I suppose the Fri-Mon return allows a long weekend in AKL, but are there going to be many takers from that catchment?

Barely 20 bucks cheaper outbound, a few pennies cheaper inbound compared to NZ's SYD flights, and not significantly cheaper than QF return for the same dates in the inaugural week... so, why bother?

I don't think AKL is a huge market for Western Sydney, but it's surprising the cheapskates couldn't even be bothered to launch the route with special fares to get some attention and boost early loads.

I'd take day 1 pricing with a grain of salt. For example AY's day one pricing for MEL-BKK-HEL wasn't that attractive either.

You can't run *sales* and promos against a discounted base price.

 

[SYD]

Correct about even split between Western Sydney and rest of greater Sydney.

Around 85K all up.

So definitely not 2-3 times as claimed.

Yes, out in the WS area there’s thousands.

I was just commenting on the fact that the Eastern Suburbs is no longer the “West Island” as it was in the the 1980s.