Western Sydney International (WSI) airport is about to open to passengers, with commercial flights to begin later this month. It is intended to complement Sydney Kingsford Smith airport at Mascot, which is constrained by its size and its strict curfew, imposed to limit noise for its inner city neighbours.
So far, Qantas and its subsidiary Jetstar, alongside Fiji Airways, Vietjet Air, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines have announced they will operate flights from the new airport. So will travellers get a good deal on flights to and from WSI? And what about factoring in the cost of travel to Sydney’s semi-rural western fringe?
Getting there
WSI – officially Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) airport – is an enormous greenfield development near Badgerys Creek, more than 60km from Sydney’s CBD. Of course, for those coming from somewhere in western Sydney, it may be more convenient to get to WSI (although not necessarily, given the piecemeal public transport connections). But will you save any money?
Guardian Australia looked at the fares for several popular destinations from WSI and Kingsford Smith, for a hypothetical return trip from 1 to 12 December, factoring in the cost of getting to the airports from four locations around Sydney. These figures are for the trips to the airport only.
Public transport and parking
A Sydney Metro rail line connecting WSI to the main rail network at St Marys is due to open next year or in 2028. Until then, WSI says, a free shuttle bus will operate between the airport and St Marys train station, running every 30 minutes. There is also a $25 “super shuttle” from Parramatta and Central stations, which we used for this comparison. From Penrith, we chose the 790 bus, one of several new local routes to WSI.
Parking at WSI is significantly cheaper, at least while an introductory discount offer is in place. Middle-tier P2 parking at the new airport would cost $147 for the duration of our notional trip, compared with $213.40 at Kingsford Smith domestic, and $248.80 at the international terminal. We did not include the cost of petrol or tolls.
Domestic fares
Flights will operate from WSI to Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Jetstar was the cheapest option offered on the Skyscanner website. From WSI to Tullamarine, return flights started at $187, compared with $258 from Kingsford Smith. With $71 between the fares, where you live in Sydney may decide if the saving is worth it.
If you flew from Kingsford Smith to Avalon, Melbourne’s secondary airport, you could save about $50, but the trip from Avalon to Melbourne’s CBD is considerably further than from Tullamarine. There was one direct Jetstar flight between WSI and Brisbane on 1 December, starting at $236 for the return trip. There were many more options for flying from Kingsford Smith to Brisbane, with return fares starting at $207. Again, the value probably comes down to where you live in Sydney, and whether you wanted to make the most of WSI’s cheaper long-term car park.
To the Gold Coast, there was one direct return Jetstar flight from WSI, starting at $131 and leaving at the civilised time of 2.10pm. The cheapest option from Kingsford Smith left at 7.20am and returned at 6am with Virgin, for $192. If you’re not an early bird, this might be a trip where WSI is the better option.
Going overseas
At this stage, WSI has announced direct international flights to Auckland, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Nadi. However, some of these will not have started by 1 December. Kingsford Smith was generally the more affordable option for the flights reviewed, raising questions about how the airlines plan to compete on price to woo passengers to WSI.
Singapore Airlines is starting daily non-stop flights between Singapore and WSI on 23 November. With a $235.98 difference between the flexi-fare economy flights from each airport, Kingsford Smith is cheaper unless you factor in parking at the airport, or if you are coming from Penrith and getting an Uber to the airport and back home.
Flying with Fiji Airways – which begins its thrice-weekly direct flights from WSI to Nadi in March – may be less expensive from WSI than Kingsford Smith, if you can be flexible with your departure and return date. Looking at comparable economy flights in April, WSI is a bit cheaper, with a $71.96 difference between the fares. This could make it a good deal even if you’re coming from Sydney’s northern or eastern suburbs, as long as you’re prepared to get public transport rather than an Uber.
Air New Zealand will start its WSI service with three flights a week to Auckland, requiring a change of departure and return date to go direct. The return fares began at $602 from both WSI and Kingsford Smith – and if we chose the latter, we could take the holiday on the dates we’d planned. VietJet Air begins its direct flights from WSI to Ho Chi Minh City in January; until then, you can fly to Vietnam via Singapore. On 1 December, the Singapore Airlines website showed a $2,249.82 return fare, swapping to the airline’s budget carrier Scoot for the second leg.
By comparison, return flights from Kingsford Smith can be had for $1,889.84. They come with the economy flexi-fare conditions, and don’t require changing to Scoot halfway. Even if you factor in car parking at Kingsford Smith’s international terminal, it’s still the cheaper option.
