Western Sydney International Nancy-Bird Walton Airport, also known as Western Sydney Airport or Badgerys Creek Airport, is a new
international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
currently under construction within the suburb of
Badgerys Creek, New South Wales
Badgerys Creek, also known as Badgery's Creek, is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Liverpool. ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The airport is planned to have 24-hour and curfew-free operations and will supplement
Kingsford Smith Airport, which has reached capacity due to a legislated curfew and flight caps. The first stage of construction on the new airport began on 24 September 2018, and the first stage is expected to be complete and open by December 2026.
The site was officially designated by the
Federal Government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
on 15 April 2014, after decades of debate on the location of another airport within Greater Sydney.
History
Operating since 1919,
Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport is one of the world's oldest airports. Located only 8 km from the city centre, the airport site is now hemmed in on three sides by urban growth and on the fourth side by
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
. The aforementioned reasons mean that expansion of Kingsford Smith Airport is highly difficult, as to expand the field, large areas of land need to be reclaimed from the sea or gathered through resumptions and suburb demolitions, both of which are extremely costly solutions. There have thus been various proposals to build a
second airport for Sydney since the 1960s.
The Federal Government announced in February 1986 that Badgerys Creek had been chosen as the location for a second major airport for Sydney.
The Federal Government then undertook a series of land acquisitions for the site, primarily during the period 1986 to 1991, and spent approximately 170 million.
The resulting site totalled .
[
However, following the purchase, the decision was made by the Government that construction of a third runway at Sydney Airport was more appropriate, and all work on the site was halted. The runway, which was built on reclaimed land, was opened in 1994.
Despite the expansion, concerns remained that Kingsford Smith Airport would run out of capacity by 2030, especially since the introduction of strict ]night flying restrictions
Night flying restrictions or night-time curfews, including night flight bans, are any regulations or legislation imposed by a governing body to limit the ground-perceived exposure to aircraft noise pollution during the night hours, when the majorit ...
in 1995. Planning for a second airport thus began again in earnest in 2008. A 3,200-page joined Federal/NSW study released in 2012 concluded that Badgerys Creek was "clearly the best site for a much-needed second airport for Sydney" and recommended that planning should start. On 15 April 2014, the Federal Government announced that Badgerys Creek would be the site of the Second Sydney Airport. In September 2018, construction works began at the Badgerys Creek Airport site.
On 4 March 2019, the federal government proclaimed that the airport would be named Nancy Bird Walton International Airport in honour of the Australian aviator Nancy Bird Walton
Nancy Bird Walton, (16 October 1915 – 13 January 2009) was a pioneering Australian aviator, known as "The Angel of the Outback", and the founder and patron of the Australian Women Pilots' Association.
In the 1930s, she became a fully ...
. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian
Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021.
Berejiklian became a member ...
stated that the naming is an "absolutely inspiring choice" as the name for the new airport. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...
stated that "we now recognise Australia's greatest female aviation pioneer" in the naming of the airport, and members of Walton's family stated that they were "extremely excited and thrilled, and it's just a huge honour" for their mother and grandmother.
On 10 December 2020, a light aircraft made an emergency landing on earthworks at the construction site, which was the airport's first arrival.
Geography
The airport's location is situated west of the Sydney CBD
The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or city centre is often refer ...
and west of Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. The site lies south of the City of Penrith CBD and approximately north of the City of Campbelltown CBD. The Township of Luddenham is located adjacent to the airport, from the runway. It is also located within of the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park
The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of Sydney, and the park boundary is quite ...
, sparking serious concerns about declared wilderness, wild rivers, amenities, World Heritage status, and the City of the Blue Mountains economy. The site is within the City of Liverpool local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
and consists of approximately of Commonwealth land that was acquired between 1986 and 1991.
Legislation
The enables the development and use of an airport, known as Sydney West Airport. The Airport Plan released by the Commonwealth Government in December 2016 notes that the airport is referred to in the Act as Sydney West Airport is commonly known as Western Sydney Airport, and is officially known as Western Sydney International (Nancy Bird Walton) Airport; named in honour of Nancy Bird Walton
Nancy Bird Walton, (16 October 1915 – 13 January 2009) was a pioneering Australian aviator, known as "The Angel of the Outback", and the founder and patron of the Australian Women Pilots' Association.
In the 1930s, she became a fully ...
, the youngest Australian woman to gain a pilot's licence.
Economy
The Federal Government claimed the initial construction phase is expected to generate around 4,000 jobs, and the airport development is expected to create 35,000 jobs by 2035, increasing to 60,000 jobs over time. Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed that the airport would "create 11,000 jobs during construction" and "28,000 within its first 5 years". However, such claims were contradicted by the 2017 labour market analysis commissioned by the Government. The analysis states that the airport is predicted to directly support 3,231 jobs during construction over eight years, 13,169 from the airport combined with a business park during the first five years of operation, and 24,046 from the combined airport and business park over the following ten years.
Flight paths
On 19 October 2015, the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) was released by the Abbott Government. This Statement outlined the proposed flight paths for Western Sydney Airport from the initial opening in the mid-2020s flight paths for an international expansion. The draft EIS showed incoming flights merging approximately over the Blue Mountains town of Blaxland which already lies at an altitude of . Unlike Sydney airport, no 'flight sharing' was proposed to reduce noise impacts on individual suburbs. Instead, flight paths followed a single loop turning either southwest or continuing southeast after the Blaxland merge point, then either northeast or southwest towards Badgerys Creek. The height started at above ground level over Blaxland, with the southwest path descending over the World Heritage-listed national park, declared wilderness, declared wild rivers, and Warragamba Dam
Warragamba Dam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, New South Wales, Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is a concrete gravity dam, which creates Lake Burragorang, the prima ...
, until reaching , over the township of and descending towards the airport over , , and before landing. The southeast path descended over , , , , and , reaching over then over the Twin Creeks and Sydney 'Science' Park housing estates prior to landing. Assessment of noise impacts were based solely on these flight paths.
After an extensive community backlash and as a measure to retain her seat of Macquarie, Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Louise Markus and the Coalition government announced a scrapping of the Blaxland merge point. The final EIS, released on 15 September 2016, revealed that the flight paths, although remaining the same, were marked as 'indicative only'. A consistent message portrayed to the public since then is that the flight paths are unknown, will not be released, noise impacts will not be assessed nor community consultation undertaken until after construction of the airport. Markus lost her seat at that election, with a swing against her of 9.2 percent, the first time that Macquarie had not been a 'bellwether
A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.[bellwether]
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...
' seat.
Initial development
The airport will be built in phases, with the initial construction phase building a smaller airport with a single runway. The cost of the initial development was estimated at 2.4 billion (as of 2012) and would generate 4,000 jobs. The government plans the initial phase would be complete and operational by 2025. Sydney Airport Corporation
Sydney Airport Holdings () was a publiclylisted Australian holding company which owned a 100% interest in Kingsford Smith Airport via Sydney Airport Corporation. The company was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and had its head office lo ...
, the operator of Kingsford Smith Airport, was given the right of first refusal
Right of first refusal (ROFR or RFR) is a contractual right that gives its holder the option to enter a business transaction with the owner of something, according to specified terms, before the owner is entitled to enter into that transactio ...
to build and operate any second airport in an agreement reached with the Government when Kingsford Smith Airport was sold in 2002. Sydney Airport declined the offer to build and operate the airport on 2 May 2017.
The airport will not have a night-time curfew, unlike Kingsford Smith Airport.[
]
Ground transport
Road connections
With the designation of the site as the location of Sydney's Second Airport, announcements were made on new and upgraded transport links to the airport and surrounding areas of western Sydney. Known as the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan
Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan (WSIP) is an A$4.1 billion 10-year road investment program in Western Sydney, New South Wales, jointly funded by the federal government ($3.3 billion) and the New South Wales state government. Originally introdu ...
, it included:
* A new M12 east-west motorway to the airport, around the current alignment of Elizabeth Drive between the M7 Westlink Motorway and The Northern Road
The A9 is the outer western Sydney Bypass connecting Campbelltown to Windsor. It was formerly designated Metroad 9, which was one of Sydney's Metroads.
“A9” is used as a route number designation for the entire length, however the road fa ...
* Upgrading of The Northern Road (A9) to a minimum of four lanes from Narellan
Narellan is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. Narellan is located 60 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Camden Council and is part of the Macarthur region.
Narellan is known for it ...
to the M4 Western Motorway
The M4 Motorway is a dual carriageway partially tolled motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is designated as the M4 route. The M4 designation is part of the wider A4 and M4 route designation, the M4 runs parallel/below grou ...
* Upgrading of Bringelly Road to a minimum of four lanes between The Northern Road
The A9 is the outer western Sydney Bypass connecting Campbelltown to Windsor. It was formerly designated Metroad 9, which was one of Sydney's Metroads.
“A9” is used as a route number designation for the entire length, however the road fa ...
and Camden Valley Way
The Camden Valley Way is a arterial road between Sydney and the historic town of Camden.
The road follows the Old Hume Highway alignment between the localities of and Camden. The northeastern terminus is from , while its southwestern termin ...
Rail connections
In April 2014, the Commonwealth Government said it had no plans to build a rail line. However, it indicated provision for a railway line would be included in the development that may include preparing tunnels under the runway as part of the runway construction and preparing the underground space for a station. It was considered likely the rail connection to the airport would consist of an extension to the South West Rail Link
The South West Rail Link is a railway line serving the developing suburbs of south-western Sydney, Australia between Glenfield and Leppington. Services form part of the Sydney Trains commuter rail network. It opened on 8 February 2015.
Descr ...
from Leppington
Leppington is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leppington is located 38 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Liverpool and Camden Counci ...
. In October 2015, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Turnbull grad ...
indicated that the airport would need both road and rail links to the Sydney CBD. In November 2015 a scoping study into rail investment to service Western Sydney and the Western Sydney Airport was announced. The study was jointly managed by the NSW and the Commonwealth governments. A discussion paper, released in September 2016, proposed various options that could provide a rail link to the airport:
The final report, released in March 2018, proposed that two lines would ultimately service the airport: a "North-South Link" from Schofields to Macarthur and an "East-West Link" from Parramatta to the "Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis", an area south of the airport. The East-West Link would likely form an extension of the already-announced Sydney Metro West
Sydney Metro West is a rapid transit project under construction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, involving the construction of a rail line linking the Sydney City Centre (CBD) with Westmead in the outer western suburbs of Greater Sydn ...
. An extension of the South West Rail Link to the Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis was also proposed. Interchanging with the North-South Link or East-West Link would be required to access the airport itself.
At the same time, the state and the federal governments announced the development of a new rail line serving the airport that would form part of the North-South Link, running south from St Marys to the airport before it continued on to the Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis. Funding for the line will be equally split between the State and the Federal governments. The report suggested that "a metro or light metro style of train would suit the North-South Link". The line, now known as Western Sydney Airport line, is scheduled to open by the airport's opening in 2026.
Bus connections
New express bus routes to the airport precinct were announced in March 2018, running from Penrith, Liverpool and Campbelltown.
Controversy
Leppington Triangle corruption investigation
On 31 July 2018 the Commonwealth Government purchased a triangular parcel of land in , adjacent to the site of the airport. The 29.8 million land purchase was for a portion of a second runway, expected to be needed after 2050. Eleven months after the purchase, the parcel of land was valued at just $3.1 million, triggering an investigation by the Australian National Audit Office
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) is the supreme audit institution of Australia, functioning as the national auditor for the Parliament of Australia and Government of Australia. It reports directly to the Australian Parliament via the ...
(ANAO). For the purposes of realigning The Northern Road
The A9 is the outer western Sydney Bypass connecting Campbelltown to Windsor. It was formerly designated Metroad 9, which was one of Sydney's Metroads.
“A9” is used as a route number designation for the entire length, however the road fa ...
, the NSW Government acquired an adjacent portion of the Leppington Triangle for 149,000; a land value 22 times less per hectare than that paid by the Commonwealth Government for its portion. The ANAO found serious shortcomings in the Commonwealth's acquisition processes, including that:
* the government did not exercise appropriate due diligence in its acquisition, and fell short of ethical standards
* an appropriate acquisition strategy was not developed
* the approach taken to valuing the land was inappropriate
* decision-makers were not appropriately advised on the land acquisition
* the incomplete advice provided to decision-makers, and the inadequate response when questions were raised by the ANAO, was inconsistent with effective and ethical stewardship of public resources.
Subsequent to this, the Australian Federal Police announced that they were investigating potential corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
related to the land deal.
Timeline
Development milestones
Construction timeline
See also
*Second Sydney Airport
The need for and location of a second airport serving Sydney, Australia was the subject of much debate. The new airport would supplement or replace the city's existing Kingsford Smith Airport. Governments had debated the issue since the 1940s, ...
*List of airports in Greater Sydney
This is a list of current and previous airports in the Greater Sydney area of New South Wales.
__TOC__
List of airports
The list is sorted by the name of the community served, click the sort buttons in the table header to switch listing order ...
References
External links
Project site
Western Sydney Rail Study site
Final EIS
Flight Paths
{{authority control
Airports in New South Wales
Airports in Greater Sydney
Abbott Government
Western Sydney
Proposed airports in Australia
City of Liverpool (New South Wales)
International airports in Australia