First Plane takes off and lands at new Western Sydney Airport

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The construction of Sydney’s new airport has reached a significant milestone with the first arrival and departure from the recently completed runway. The test of the critical airport infrastructure has been declared a success.

Transcript

00:00Exactly 6 years since construction first began here on Australia's next international airport,

00:08the recently completed runway here at Western Sydney has welcomed its first ever plane.

00:14The test pilot making the monumental landing around 1 o'clock this afternoon in a small

00:20cabin monoplane.

00:21Despite the gloomy and wet conditions, as far as we can tell here on the ground, it

00:25appeared to be a smooth landing.

00:27Now that same plane is expected to take off and land repeatedly throughout the rest of

00:32the afternoon.

00:33And while today's landing was no Boeing 737, today's touchdown marks a pivotal moment for

00:38the development of the 24-hour Western Sydney International Airport, which is currently

00:4380% of the way done.

00:45Today's monumental moment attracted a large crowd.

00:48Seeing the whole thing, even for myself, is very surreal.

00:51So seeing from where it actually started, being on site here as well, and to where it

00:56is now, and actually getting to see that first plane come in.

01:00Something that I can speak to the grandkids about.

01:03It was really cool to see so many enthusiasts about the new airport, and I wasn't expecting

01:08this many people and this many cameras to be out here, so it was very exciting to see it.

01:12While today marks a pivotal moment in the development of this new international airport,

01:17there's still two more years until it officially opens, and the CEO of the Western Sydney Airport

01:24says it's on schedule to open at late 2026.

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