Julie Lundmark, from Sweden, had flown to Melbourne for the weekend from Kingsford Smith, Sydney's main airport. Only on landing did she and a friend realize their return Jetstar flight, JQ373, had taken them to the new airport, Australian broadcaster ABC reported.

"We landed here and looked out of the window and had no idea where we were," Lundmark said. She had checked the airport name on her boarding pass a few days earlier, she said, but an online search for the unfamiliar "west airport" brought up the main Sydney airport.

Their car was parked at Kingsford Smith, which she said would take two hours to reach. "We are stuck in Western Sydney," she said. "Double check, everyone, on your tickets before."

A man who flew in from Auckland on Air New Zealand flight NZ165 said he had seen "Western Sydney" and thought it was Western Australia, on the other side of the country, the broadcaster reported. He realized his mistake by the time he got on the flight, he said.

"I'm meant to be in Perth, but look, it's still pretty fun, so we'll make the best of it," he said. "I'm on holiday, so it's not the worst thing."

The new airport lies about 45 km west of Sydney's central business district, compared with about 9 km for Kingsford Smith. Unlike the older airport, which bars most passenger flights between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., it operates around the clock.

Its first international flight, an Air New Zealand service from Auckland, landed and took off again on the morning of Oct. 26, launching a three-flights-a-week route, AFP reported.

Passengers board Air New Zealand flight NZ166, the first international flight to leave Western Sydney International Airport, on Oct. 26, 2026. Photo by Reuters

The airport, under construction since 2018, cost A$5.3 billion (US$3.7 billion) excluding surrounding transport works and is Australia's first new major airport in more than five decades.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who opened the airport on Oct. 25, called it a "wonderful new chapter" for Australia that would drive economic growth and jobs in Western Sydney.

"For too long, Sydney has looked towards the harbor and the CBD. What this does is turn it around to where people live, to where jobs occur, to where investment occurs in western Sydney," he said.

A direct rail link is not expected until at least December 2027. Until then, buses and a free shuttle from St Marys station are the main public transport options.

Jetstar, Qantas's budget carrier, is the main domestic airline, flying to the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Brisbane. Singapore Airlines is due to start daily flights to Singapore on Nov. 23, with Fiji Airways following in March 2027 and Qatar Airways in December 2027.

Vietjet plans to launch twice-weekly flights between Ho Chi Minh City and the airport in January 2027.

Western Sydney is home to more than 70,000 Vietnamese residents, airport chief executive Simon Hickey said when the route was announced in August.