Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport has welcomed trial passengers on board a Jetstar A320 passenger jet as it prepares for commercial passenger services to commence from October 25.
The test flight and passenger trial, which is part of the final phase of the airport’s operational readiness program, involved members of the public participating as volunteers. The program enables WSI and its partners to test all stages of the terminal customer journey and associated services, systems, and staff, as well as providing feedback to improve the overall passenger experience.
The program simulates a genuine journey with trial passengers allocated domestic and international flights, “checking in” for their flight, moving through WSI’s efficient security screening, and engaging with different airport facilities and staff as they would on any given travel day.
WSI chief operating officer Matt Duffy said this final phase of WSI’s operational preparations had been underway since August and involved hundreds of trial participants taking part each week.
“By October, we anticipate that thousands of participants will have engaged in our trial program – each one of them playing an important role in stress-testing our systems, processes and people. We’re aiming to make these various elements to be as ‘fail safe’ as they can be,” he said.
“This is also about giving us as much experience as possible in navigating the inherently dynamic nature of round-the-clock airport operations. It’s a unique and positive opportunity we’re able to leverage as Australia’s first major international greenfield airport in more than 50 years.”
Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King said today’s (September 1) trial flight was an important test to ensure that Western Sydney’s International Airport is ready to go on day one: “We’ve had a firefighting tanker and hundreds of freight flights take off and land at Western Sydney International. Now for the first time, a Jetstar passenger plane has come into land at the new airport. The airline and airport crews have tested systems like aerobridges, refueling, baggage services and more, 54 days ahead of Jetstar’s inaugural flight to the Gold Coast.”
Trial participants simulate both domestic and international arrivals and departures as part of WSI’s ongoing program. They use self-check in and bag drop facilities, and WSI’s security screening which includes extra-long lanes, additional body scanners, and central image processing to review multiple trays at a time and facilitate efficient processing.
Officers from the Australian Border Force (ABF) and Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishers (DAFF) are also taking part in the trials, facilitating their integral role in the international arrivals process and border security.
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