OpinionSeptember 2, 2026 — 5:00amThe clock is ticking on Western Sydney International Airport. Australia’s first capital city “greenfield” airport – that is, a new facility built from scratch – in more than 50 years is due to open its doors to paying passengers in less than two months now.A Jetstar plane arrives on Tuesday after a trial passenger flight to Western Sydney International Airport. The airport will have very few international flights in its first few months of operation.Sam MooyThere are still a few things missing.A rail link is the most obvious. Part of the business case for WSI’s success was that it would be connected to greater Sydney by metro rail, and it will be – though not for at least another year. It might even be 2028 before the metro is finished, after numerous delays.In the interim, there will be free shuttle buses to WSI running every 30 minutes from St Marys railway station, taking about half an hour to get to the airport. Which doesn’t seem a great replacement.Alternatively, passengers can take the “Super Shuttle”, a bus that will run to WSI from Parramatta CBD, taking 30-45 minutes, for $25; from Sydney CBD, taking 45-60 minutes for $55; and from Sydney Airport, taking 60-75 minutes for $65.Sign up for the Traveller newsletterThe latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.Or you can drive. More than 65 per cent of Sydney’s suburbs are within a 45-minute drive of the new airport, so I guess that makes sense, if you can handle paying for parking (or the Uber fare).There are airports around the world, big, shiny new airports, that have turned out to be total turkeys.There’s something else missing from WSI though: flights. At least, international flights. This all-singing, all-dancing multibillion-dollar airport so far only has three international destinations.Passengers from WSI will be able to fly to Singapore with Singapore Airlines (but not until late November), Ho Chi Minh City with VietJet (not until January), and Auckland with Air New Zealand immediately upon opening. VietJet plans to add direct Bangkok services by November next year, but doesn’t yet have regulatory approval.Qantas has yet to announce any international routes, and won’t begin its domestic services to Brisbane and Melbourne until the end of March next year. Jetstar is operating plenty of domestic flights to Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Brisbane, though it doesn’t have any international destinations.This is all despite the NSW government offering a coffer of $16 million to encourage airlines to operate out of WSI.So … does Western Sydney International have a problem?The airport’s chief executive, Simon Hickey, told me this week that no, it doesn’t.“A range of new commercial partners continue to join WSI each week,” Hickey said, “and we’re having ongoing, positive conversations with domestic and international airlines that recognise the opportunities this new global gateway can offer their customers. We anticipate that strong interest and momentum will continue up to the launch of our inaugural passenger flights in October and beyond.”The lack of rail connection for at least the first year of operations is a major blow for WSI. It’s hard to build immediate rapport with your customer base, to build habits and even spark joy, when it’s harder to get there than it really should be.I can’t see many people wanting to schlep over to St Marys on the train only to spend another half an hour crammed into a shuttle bus. In reverse, I can’t see many Melburnians or those from the Gold Coast wanting to arrive in Sydney and then shell out $55 to spend as long on a bus getting into the CBD as they just spent in the plane flying to WSI. That’s a significant cost in time and money.WSI’s location might be seen as a problem to some, but it doesn’t have to be. There’s a vast population base in western Sydney, who will be just as close if not closer to WSI than they are to SYD.It’s also not exactly unusual to have a major airport far outside a city’s CBD. Sydney has had it good for many years now, but if you live in London, or Paris, or even Melbourne, you’re used to having to commute outside the city to get to the airport. I’m confident that that’s something Sydneysiders, and those visiting the city, will soon get used to as well.In the short term though, given the transport woes, that will require a drawcard to alleviate concerns, and that drawcard has got to be prices. If you can fly out of WSI to, say, Singapore or Ho Chi Minh City for significantly less than you can from SYD, it’s going to start looking pretty attractive, even with a shuttle bus ride from St Marys.A quick scan on the Singapore Airlines website for one-way flights from Sydney to Singapore in December shows a saving of about $150 to fly out of WSI instead of SYD, arriving in Singapore at 5.15am instead of 9pm or 12.20am. Is that enough of a draw? Maybe.The big hurdle WSI needs to overcome is the lack of international destinations. There are airports around the world, big, shiny new airports, that have turned out to be total turkeys. Montreal-Mirabel is probably the most famous of them, forced to close commercial operations after just 29 years because it was too far away and lacked decent transit links. There’s no guarantee that if you build it, they will come.My feeling is that they will come to WSI. Though, it’s going to be a slow start. The airport needs more international destinations, and it needs its metro train link (or at the very least a cheaper shuttle into the city). It needs to build habits with its vast potential customer base.And it begins in less than two months.More:Air travelAirportsWestern Sydney InternationalOpinionFor subscribersBen Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.From our partners