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Western Sydney Airport (WSI) has seen its first ever official take-off and landing, with a light aircraft on Wednesday conducting test flights for the airfield’s ground lighting system.
The Piper PA-30 Twin Engine Comanche aircraft, VH-8MN, was tasked with taking off and landing at both ends of the runway in daylight, dusk and nighttime conditions to ensure the airport’s 3,000 Aeronautical Ground Lights (AGLs) were fit for purpose ahead of the 2026 opening.
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The first aeroplane landing at Western Sydney Airport 🛫 🛬 ✈️ #WesternSydneyAirport #Aerotropolis #Luddenham pic.twitter.com/ksRGiA9Siq
— Western Sydney Airport & Employment Lands (@sydwestagribus) October 2, 2024
Construction began on the airport’s single initial runway in 2022 and is nearing practical completion. The runway is expected to be capable of catering for around 10 million passengers per year “from day one”.
“This week’s flight tests are an important commissioning requirement stipulated by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to help ensure our runway lighting infrastructure is fit for operations,” said WSI CEO Simon Hickey.
“These tests are the culmination of a tremendous amount of work by our contract partners to level the land, build multiple complex layers of sandstone and asphalt to form the 3.7km runway, and install lighting, line marking and technology systems that will soon support passenger and cargo operations at WSI.
“There are thousands of workers bringing WSI to life each day, many of whom are Western Sydney locals, and this week they can look down that runway and know they built something that will stand the test of time and provide a critical service to many millions of Australians.”
The Comanche is technically not the first plane ever to land at Western Sydney Airport, as a Piper PA-28 Cherokee made an emergency landing on the construction site earthworks in late 2020 due to what was reported as a mechanical problem on a training flight.
WSI hit an important construction milestone in July with the completion of the terminal’s roof.
The federal government says the airport is now 80 per cent complete, with internal works such as lounges, departure areas and retail space able to proceed in the weatherproof building. The roof also features more than 6,000 solar panels to help power the airport.
Qantas and Jetstar last June became the first airlines to confirm they will operate from the new airport when it opens in two years, with WSI in recent months also securing Singapore Airlines as its first international carrier and Qantas Freight as its first cargo airline.
