Jetstar’s first flight to Western Sydney Airport arrives early

Jetstar has conducted its first test flight to Western Sydney International, ensuring that the plane’s taxi routes to the gates, the aerobridge, and the fuelling process all go as expected.

Flight JQ7990 from Melbourne carried a crew but no passengers, and arrived 14 minutes early at 9.16am.

Jetstar chief pilot captain Tyrone Simes said the “flight was about getting to know the airport before we carry customers,” particularly around ground service equipment.

“It’s quite a collaborative team effort between the different departments on the ground, both in the flight deck cabin co-ordination and with refuelling procedures,” he said.

The flight, designed as a test run of what will be regular operations, landed at a moment of heightened scrutiny about the safety of Australian aviation.

Sydney Airport in the city’s east has seen a rash of incidents on the ground, which has raised questions about the staff and workload of the Sydney Airport Tower’s air traffic controllers. Western Sydney International uses a digital control tower, with flights into and out of the airport monitored by humans at a remote location in Eastern Creek, NSW.

The Jetstar’s trial flight also let the Western Sydney Airport ground team practise their work with mock customers. Hundreds of volunteers acted as passengers to test the boarding and baggage systems, but did not actually participate in the flight.

The Jetstar plane also conducted the test to ensure the flight crew’s ability to navigate around the taxiways and the infrastructure around the airport.

Simes said the use of a Western Sydney’s digital air traffic control tower made no difference in the landing of the A320. “It was seamless actually,” Simes said.

Simes said he was confident that there will be enough air traffic controllers in Sydney to handle two airports when Western Sydney opens fully on October 25.

“We’re working very closely with Airservices [Australia] on some of the issues that have been raised of late.

“Of course we wouldn’t operate if the environment wasn’t safe,” said Simes. “So we’re absolutely confident that Airservices are able to satisfy those requirements.”

“And we’ll continue to work on the issues that need [to be addressed],” he said.

Western Sydney International’s chief operating officer Matt Duffy said that there have been 77 trials since they began last October, or roughly two a week, every week.

“We built the asset, then we wrap people process around that asset … As we work through the trials, we learn more about the asset, then we take those learnings and put them back into our processes” Duffy said.

Airlines and planners are questioning how Western Sydney International will function alongside Sydney airport, which has capacity issues and its own ambitious plans for long-term growth through its recently released master plan for the next two decades.

Duffy said trials were on track ahead of the launch of passenger flights.

“Today’s trial flight represents an important part of our ongoing operational readiness program, which is all about preparing our staff, systems and processes to be as match-fit as possible when the airport opens for passengers next month,” he said.

Starting on October 25, Jetstar will operate up to 14 flights a week between Western Sydney and Melbourne, as well as daily flights to the Gold Coast, which had to be bumped up from four a week to meet demand. Jetstar will also fly three flights a week to Brisbane.

It joins Qantas, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines as carriers committed to launch at the curfew-free airport. Vietnamese low-cost carrier VietJet has also signalled an interest in flying from Western Sydney to Vietnam from January.

Later in 2027, VietJet expects to flying between Western Sydney and Thailand.

The author traveller to Sydney as a guest of Jetstar.

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