Philippine Airlines and VietJet look to community connection near Western Sydney Airport

Philippine Airlines and VietJet look to community connection near Western Sydney Airport
By Grant Jones


Both Philippine Airlines and VietJet will explore services from Western Sydney Airport with the airport’s proximity to the Filipino and Vietnamese diaspora in Sydney potentially beneficial to both carriers.

Philippine Airlines VP revenue management and commercial planning Alex Featherstone, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific, said the carrier would “explore” the potential of launching services to Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport as it “gets closer to operation”.

He said the airport’s proximity to the Filipino diaspora in Sydney could be a beneficial to the carrier.

VietJet Air board member Chu Viet Cuong also said the airline is considering Western Sydney International, noting the advantages of additional slots and the ability to operate night flights with no curfew.

Cuong said the main question for VietJet is regarding surface transport between the new airport and the city, given it wished to operate land 24 hours.

The $11 billion metro rail link to the new terminal will not operate through the early hours for passengers to get home.

Driverless trains will initially run from 4.30am to midnight from Sunday to Thursday along the 23km line between St Marys and the new city of Bradfield, via Western Sydney Airport.

The new metro line, which is due to open at the same time as the curfew-free airport, will operate from 4.30am to 1am on Friday and Saturday.

Sydney Metro said the new airport line’s operating hours would be aligned with Sydney Trains services at St Marys, where passengers would connect to the broader rail network.

“Metro has the capability to provide alternative service patterns, but this would need to be done in alignment with the broader transport network and the train maintenance schedule,” it said.

Singapore Airlines was recently announced as the first airline to sign up to WSI.

Singapore Airlines first international carrier announced for Western Sydney Airport

Meanwhile, Thai Airways said the Australian visa process and the curfew restrictions at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport are the main challenges for the airline’s growth in the Australian market, despite it being the airlines’ third largest market for revenue generation, commercial advisor to the CEO, Otto Gergye, said.

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