Badgerys Creek is located about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Sydney. Near the small Australian community, excavators and construction equipment have been busy for some time levelling the ground. The new Western Sydney International Airport is scheduled to start operations there at the end of 2026.
Since as early as the 1940s, there are ongoing discussions to relieve Sydney's main airport, Kingsford Smith International. However, plans for a second airport for Australia's largest city have only been approved three years ago. Now that the first preparatory construction work has begun, the building of the main terminal is also becoming more concrete.
Start of construction next year
Western Sydney Airport, the already established state-owned operating company, has shortlisted three construction companies to bid for the construction of the main terminal, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. A decision is expected for the middle of next year and construction is scheduled to start at the end of 2021.
Who will design the terminal has already been decided. An Australian-British cooperation between the architectural firms Zaha Hadid Architects from London and Cox Architecture from Sydney. Initial concept graphics show what the Western Sydney International Airport is to look like.
From 10 to up to 82 million passengers per year
When it opens, the new airport will have a terminal with a capacity of 10 million passengers per year. National and international flights will take off and land on a runway 3700 metres long and 60 metres wide.
By 2050, up to 37 million passengers could use the airport, thanks to a terminal extension and an additional parallel runway. By 2063, the airport would grow to a capacity of up to 82 million passengers per year. The total construction cost is expected to be 5.3 billion Australian Dollars, about 3.9 billion US Dollars.
See Western Sydney International Airport concept graphics in the image gallery above.
New Sydney Airport to start construction in 2021
Concept rendering of Western Sydney International Airport: More capacity for the Australian city.
Operations are to launch in 2026.
It will have an initial capacity of 10 million passengers per year. This will gradually be extended to 82 million by the year 2063.
An Australian-British joint venture is responsible for designing the main terminal. The final construction plan will be presented in mid 2021 when the decision for a construction company has been announced.
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