Sydney gets a new airport

Sydney–bound holidaymakers will soon have more options to reach Australia’s largest city, which this week broke ground on a new US$3.6 billion airport (about R51.5 billion).

Western Sydney Airport is scheduled to open in 2026 as part of an effort to deal with booming air traffic numbers.

“It’s great to see this happening,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the opening. “This issue has been around for longer than I have been living on the planet,” he added, joking about long-running planning delays.

The number of air passengers globally is projected to nearly double to 7.8 billion by 2036. Sydney is expected to double passenger numbers within the next two
decades.

Supporters of the project say that even if flight restrictions on Sydney’s current airport were lifted, it would not be able to handle expected passenger numbers.

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