WESTERN SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
TAKES WING AFTER MORE THAN THREE YEARS OF EARTHMOVING, THE WESTERN SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’S RUNWAY CONSTRUCTION WILL KICK OFF NEXT YEAR. ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE SPEAKS TO THE AIRPORT’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SIMON HICKEY ABOUT SOME OF THE CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL SHAPE THE AIRFIELD.
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hen it opens in 2026, the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport will be showcasing an airfield designed around maximising passenger safety and operational efficiency. The technologies embedded in the airfield’s design will ensure reduced taxi times for the planes, which will be key to the airport’s seamless operation. While initially handling around 10 million domestic and international passengers a year, the airport is forecast to be accommodating up to 82 million passengers annually by 2060 following the addition of a second runway. In
comparison, Sydney’s existing international airport, the Kingsford Smith Airport, handled 44.4 million passengers in 2018. The runway for the Western Sydney International Airport will be designed to handle the full range of commercial aircraft, including the new generation of ultra-long-haul airliners like the A3501000 and Boeing 777X. It will be the only airport in Sydney equipped with a modern CAT III-B instrument landing system, meaning it will continue operating safely in foggy conditions that currently shut down Sydney’s skies. But before that first flight takes off from the airport, construction would have gone
through a number of phases and ticked more milestones. A major milestone for the project came earlier this year in September, when the contract to design and construct the airport’s airfield was awarded to the CPB Contractors and ACCIONA joint venture. The contract includes building the airport’s 3.7-kilometre runway and rapid exit taxiways, as well as construction of more than 40 kilometres of airfield roads, facilities and services. It also includes more than 90 kilometres of power and fibre optic cabling to electrify the airport. Western Sydney Airport CEO Simon Hickey says the contract award followed a
The construction of the Western Sydney Airport terminal will begin later this year, with runway construction commencing in 2022.
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ROADS DECEMBER 2021
