CATHERINE KING: Welcome again to Western Sydney International Airport. It’s terrific to be here, obviously joined by Chair, Paul O’Sullivan, but I have with me to answer some of the more technical questions Matt Duffy who’s the Chief Operating Officer here at Western Sydney International Airport. Well, the first round of testing is starting for the operational readiness of Western Sydney International Airport. We’ve got the flight paths being tested today with a Cessna coming through and CASA supervising our, Civil Aviation Safety Authority supervising those flights. We’ve got baggage handling which you can see – that’s starting, the new system running – all in readiness for the airport operating for freight at the middle of next year and for the first passengers at the end of 2026. The airport is doing an amazing job.

We know there have been thousands of jobs in construction here, over 50 per cent of the workforce drawn from Western Sydney itself, and of course now we’re just starting to see this airport really come to life with this first round of testing. Next week will be the 737. There’ll be an emergency testing operation, so our firefighting services and other emergency personnel, they’ll run a live test about that as well. And I’m sure this won’t be the last time many of you are out here having a look as this airport gets ready to open in 2026.

I might just see if Matt would like to say a few words about the testing and then I’ll take some questions.

MATT DUFFY: Thank you Minister. Good morning all. Welcome to Western Sydney International Airport. It’s a great opportunity and thank you to the Minister for coming out and joining us here today. Really, the live operational trials, we pretty much spin up all of the systems that we’ve been preparing for over the last six months. A lot of effort going into building our processes and procedures, familiarising people with the assets. Now we’ll start to invite other people into the airport, all of the different stakeholders, airlines, ground handlers, emergency services, so they can prepare themselves, build their capability and actually get us ready for those operations, as the Minister said, in the second half of next year.

Really exciting times for me as an airport operator. This is when the rubber hits the road. This is when it gets exciting. We came in here at 7 o’clock this morning. The teams were there with a glow on their face, all ready to rock and roll. So really exciting times for us. And yeah, we’re really looking forward to the next 12 months.

CATHERINE KING: Alright, thanks. So any questions? Any of the more technical questions I’ll get you to take.

JOURNALIST: Just with the plane that you are landing today, given that there is no traditional control tower here at this airport, does that- I guess, does that affect testing in any way? Do things have to differ?

MATT DUFFY: No, absolutely not. We do that, obviously, in consultation with CASA and Airservices. They operate under what they call visual flight rules, so typically what you’d see at Bankstown Airport. So they operate, we make the aerodrome available to them, they put out notifications in the local airspace and they perform a safe operation. They’re pretty much in constant radio contact with all the other operators in the area.

JOURNALIST: And with the baggage testing today, we’ve seen the bags going around, I guess, can you talk us through, I guess, the vigorous nature of that testing? How many bags are you guys putting through the ringer today?

MATT DUFFY: Yeah, so we’ve got about 1,800 bags. You might have seen them there in the check-in hall. We’ve set up a whole lot of dummy flights. And the whole art to this is actually connecting people with their bags. So what we’ve been doing pretty much is suspending the bag system with not having bags in it, so just to really pressure test the system. Then we get those 1,800 bags and consecutively push them through on multiple flights and make sure they end up in all the destinations where they’re meant to go. So yeah, great opportunity for us to test the asset as it’s been built. So really looking forward to it.

JOURNALIST: What’s monumental about today and how far do you go?

MATT DUFFY: Yeah, so as you can probably imagine, decades of planning, years of construction, all comes down to this point where we actually start to bring the airport to life and that’s the fun part of it. So up until now it’s been heavy focus on the construction, the design, a lot of effort and a lot of great people, many thousands of people who have delivered it on time and on budget. But now we really have to put our focus into actually turning it into a live operation. So that’s the big shift in focus that happens, commencing today.

JOURNALIST: And Minister, just on that note, how many airlines do you expect to be flying here when this airport opens next year?

CATHERINE KING: Well, the more the better really. I think our teams have been working pretty hard. Obviously Qantas were the first to come on board, Singapore, Air New Zealand. The reality is on day one, will it have exactly the same number of flights as Kingsford Smith? No, it won’t. We don’t expect that to occur but certainly we’re working pretty hard to get more airlines and more flights involved and encourage that, and the teams are working pretty hard on that. But great to have those airlines on board already and looking forward to the first passengers at the end of next year.

JOURNALIST: And if the airport struggles to actually attract airlines, what will the Federal Government do to assist?

CATHERINE KING: I have every confidence that the team here at Western Sydney Airport will have those airlines in place and have those flights in place. The catchment area for Western Sydney is millions and millions of people. We know just the huge growth that is happening out here. People in Western Sydney love to travel and love to be engaged with the world. The fact that we’ve got those airlines already engaged, they have had the foresight to know that that is going to be important. Obviously, freight operations out of here are also significant and a significant opportunity, particularly as a non-curfewed airport, to grow the economy out here. So I’m confident that the Western Sydney Airport Authority will continue to negotiate with airlines and you’ll see more announcements to come.

JOURNALIST: Are you confident that cargo flights will start in the middle of next year, as you’ve said previously?

CATHERINE KING: Yeah, that’s certainly our expectation.

JOURNALIST: In terms of- I mean, obviously this airport faces stiff competition from Sydney Airport, which has announced sort of the biggest expansion since the Sydney Olympics in 2000. How do you think this airport is going to be able to compete?

CATHERINE KING: Well, obviously the need for this airport has been a long time coming. Kingsford Smith is constrained, obviously, both in terms of its size and location, but it’s great to see that they are investing in facilities there. We’re actually seeing, I think, an unprecedented scale across airports right the way across the country at the moment. Melbourne Airport under construction. I was in Adelaide yesterday, major constructions happening there. Perth Airport. All of our airports are actually experiencing significant growth, which post-COVID is actually great to see. The demand is there, and we’re seeing our airports also step up to improve infrastructure. And I like to think that Western Sydney International Airport now has really set the bar, and they’re all now trying to catch up with the infrastructure that people expect of a modern airport.

JOURNALIST: One thing the airport won’t have when it opens late next year is an operating rail line. What has the state government told you about the latest on when exactly that line will open and what will be the additional cost to taxpayers from building it?

CATHERINE KING: Yeah. So, a couple of things there. Obviously, in terms of connectivity to the airport, there will be plenty of connectivity from day one. You can see the huge investments we’ve made in road infrastructure- the State Government is working its way through now in terms of bus infrastructure. And the metro coming out here, you can see that huge construction is well and truly underway. And again, we don’t expect that there will be millions and millions of passengers on day one. So, this is really a ramping up to make sure we’re ready, and that’s the work that we’ve done.

In terms of cost pressures on the metro, that would be a matter of the New South Wales Government. They will obviously come to us. I understand that isn’t actually finalised or settled as yet, but we do understand there are some cost pressures, as there are with large infrastructure projects particularly metro and heavy rail.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I just had a question in from our friends at WIN News. They just texted me. They wanted to ask you about Rex Airlines being saved from administration by US company Air T. Creditors have been warned that they’re unlikely to be paid. Can I get a response from you on that?

CATHERINE KING: So I think what I saw from the statement from Air T and the administrator- so this will be a matter for the administration. Just bearing in mind that what has happened is the administrators have now signalled that they’ve entered into a deed of sale and implementation with Air T. It will now be subject to the second creditors meeting. So it is up to creditors to determine whether they accept Air T’s offer, and that offer will be put to the second creditors meeting. I think what the media release from Air T said is the shareholders will not expect a return. I expect that the administrators will then let creditors know what will be happening at that second creditors meeting.

JOURNALIST: Just on the airport again, what impact will public transport availability have on flight frequency?

CATHERINE KING: So there will be plenty of public transport connectivity. So as I said, from day one, in terms of buses, obviously ride share facilities as well, and then obviously private vehicles if people choose to do that. The train line, in terms of the time frames of that, we’ll let the New South Wales Government update you on those. But the fact that we are building all of this- frankly, in my home state, I don’t have a train line to the airport in Melbourne. We’re fighting pretty hard to get one. The fact that you’ve got a greenfields airport with unbelievable connectivity and plans for future expansion as well in place, is pretty remarkable and a remarkable thing to have done. So, there will be plenty of public transport, plenty of transport options here from opening but also then beyond once the train line’s in place.

JOURNALIST: Are you concerned with a possible delay when this opens?

CATHERINE KING: I know how hard it is to build these big infrastructure projects. I came out here and frankly, if you’ve seen the drone footage, you’ve all been out here before, just the amazing work from rolling hills to the built infrastructure we have today – what a credit to our construction companies, our construction workers, and the team here at Western Sydney International Airport. And the same with metro – I’ve been down in the station boxes. I’ve been down at the business park. They are going great guns to actually build that. I’m not surprised, these projects are big and they are complex, unexpected things occur, but certainly, our expectation is that public transport connectivity will be available through bus services, ride share, and taxi services. And then obviously, when the train line comes on, that will also be important. It’s important not just for people trying to use the airport, but also for workers as well. Certainly one of the things we’re seeing is affordability of people being able to get out here for work will be critically important as well. And again, as I said, you’ll see that ramp-up occur during the life of the first few years at the airport.

JOURNALIST: And I know you’ve given a rough estimate for opening dates. When can we find out that date?

CATHERINE KING: [Laughs] The airport will give you those when they’re ready. Obviously, this is a critical part of its opening. You can’t open without making sure every single thing in it’s operating, from the flight paths to making sure all of the line marking on the runway is all correct, lighting, all the communication systems, right the way through to baggage handling. So this is really- we are on the pathway to opening. This testing is actually a critical part of that.

JOURNALIST: Could it be as early as November next year?

CATHERINE KING: I’ll let the airport take any questions in terms of that. I think we’ll- you’ll know. Please be assured, you’ll know. We will expect you all out here. I think I had the Today show asking if they could do a live broadcast. So, I’ll leave that to the airport to answer.

JOURNALIST: Just a bit maybe more of a technical one.

CATHERINE KING: Yes. Of course.

JOURNALIST: What is left? From here on out, what are the next steps?

MATT DUFFY: Yeah. So, look, on the airport itself, it’s really testing. The airport’s complete. We really go into this detailed testing phase. Early next year, we’ll invite some people from the local community so we can actually pressure test with live passengers in a mock environment. So, that’ll be a whole lot of fun. We get to pressure test and make sure all the systems and processes work as planned. We’ll do a whole lot of resilience testing where we’ll do some things like turn the power off and see how we perform under duress. That’s a really important part of what you do as an airport because you have to expect the unexpected. So that’s another important part of what we do. We’re working closely with our partners in Airservices. They’re building the fire station that you can see over there behind us, the digital tower. So we have a lot of engagement with those people. And then, we also continue to engage with the airlines, the ground handlers, the fuelers, because they have to help us build out all of the processes- test those processes so they’re all ready to go. So a lot of it is about making sure that all of our partners have the capability to operate, and that’s our focus over the next 12 months.

JOURNALIST: And I have to ask you this, Matt, but do you think the airport could be open by as early as November next year?

MATT DUFFY: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

JOURNALIST: Earlier than that?

MATT DUFFY: By November next year?

JOURNALIST: Yes.

MATT DUFFY: Not this year?

JOURNALIST: No, no, next year.

MATT DUFFY: Yeah. Yeah. No, the airport will definitely be open in the second half of next year.

JOURNALIST: Okay. In terms of passenger flights, I’m talking about here.

MATT DUFFY: Passenger flights, it’s a possibility. Look, ultimately, we don’t control fleets’ schedules. That’s really the domain of the airlines. Our job here is to make sure that the airport is ready, so we’ll be ready in the second half of next year. The airlines ultimately will make a decision on how they schedule their fleets and how they sell their tickets.

JOURNALIST: So, does that mean that we could have the first passenger flight, if airlines wanted it, by July next year?

MATT DUFFY: I think July might be ambitious. Let’s say second half of next year. So look, our job really through the trial process is to work with the airlines. Those dates will be determined as we test their operational readiness. So like I said, we’ve got a job to do to manage our readiness. The airlines have to actually make sure they’re ready to go as well. There’s a lot in that, and like the Minister said, we’ll be able to provide more information over the next 12 months. But our ambition is to have the airport ready to operate in the second half of next year.

JOURNALIST: That’s ambitious.

MATT DUFFY: I think it’s absolutely believable, and we will be ready to go. That’s our job.

JOURNALIST: Just confirming that our friends doing the loop-de-loops in the sky and the impressive acrobatics, they’ve got nothing to do with the testing today?

MATT DUFFY: No, no. That’s a regular visitor. Keeps us well entertained. First time you hear it, you go, wow, that’s pretty impressive. After you’ve seen it a few times, you go, I wish it’d go away because it’s potentially going to be a disturbance. So- but yeah, no. So, but they’re the people- this is the traditional training ground for a lot of the people that come from Bankstown. We get a lot of training pilots overhead, obviously people doing aerobatics. So yeah, but eventually, that’ll have to shift once we bring in the RPT operations here at the airport.

CATHERINE KING: Lovely. You’re done. Thank you.