Australia’s first major greenfield international airport in more than 50 years delivered ahead of schedule: a role model for future infrastructure delivery in Australia

SYDNEY, Nov. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport (WSI) opened to passengers on October 25, 2026, following a design, construction, and commissioning program led by Western Sydney Airport Corporation with Bechtel Australia as Delivery Partner that finished months ahead of schedule. The opening marks a new era of aviation, trade, and economic activity for Western Sydney and Australia.

Jetstar operated the airport’s first commercial passenger service, flying from WSI to the Gold Coast. Passenger operations follow the start of freight services in July and cap 15 years of planning, seven years of construction, and a year of testing and operational readiness.

A Delivery Model Built for Complexity

“I offer my warm congratulations to our partner, Western Sydney Airport Corporation, our contractors, and all the colleagues and partners who have come together to make this project such a success,” said Darren Mort President of Infrastructure and Executive Director at Bechtel. “WSI shows what the integrated model can achieve when a customer, delivery partner, and contractors work as one team around a clear vision. Together, we transformed a 1,780-hectare greenfield site into a modern international airport, months ahead of schedule.”

Key project achievements include:

• Completing major construction works almost seven months ahead of schedule.
• More than 21 million work hours, most of them in high-risk construction, completed with strong safety performance and supported by more than 42,000 proactive safety activities.
• Delivering Australia’s largest earthworks program, moving approximately 28 million cubic metres of material across the site.
• Reusing nearly 6 million tonnes of sandstone from Sydney tunnelling projects, diverting material from landfill.
• Installing a 4.5-megawatt solar system that will offset more than 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, alongside all-electric heating, rainwater harvesting, and electric-vehicle infrastructure.
• Integrating more than 60 software platforms supporting airport operations, including passenger processing, security, retail, and office systems.
• Exceeding sustainability targets on all construction packages, each receiving a 4- or 5-Star rating.

Since 2018, Bechtel has served as Delivery Partner to Western Sydney Airport Corporation, the company responsible for building and operating WSI. Under this model, Bechtel:

• Worked as an integrated partner of the customer’s team.
• Helped set the program’s scope, cost, and schedule baseline.
• Procured and managed contractors across the earthworks, terminal, runway, landside, and technology packages, and managed the interfaces between them.
• Controlled the program budget, keeping every package moving toward the same completion date that resulted in finishing months early and within budget.

Innovation from the Ground Up

The program combined large-scale engineering with new approaches to sustainability and technology. It delivered Australia’s largest earthworks program and reused nearly 6 million tonnes of sandstone from Sydney tunnelling projects that would otherwise have gone to landfill. More than 60 software platforms were integrated into one operating environment covering passenger processing, security, retail, and office systems. A 4.5-megawatt solar system, all-electric heating, and rainwater harvesting are built into the airport. And the new terminal includes extensive innovative elements, from the integrated domestic/international check-in area, a state-of-the art baggage system, and departure/arrival gates able to be used for both domestic and international flights.

The airport is designed to initially serve up to 10 million passengers a year, with capacity to expand as demand grows. It has already helped catalyze AU$19 billion in surrounding infrastructure investment and is projected to contribute AU$23.9 billion to Australia’s gross domestic product by 2060.

Building on Bechtel’s Commitment to Australia

“Today marks years of hard work, collaboration, and commitment from thousands of people, including more than 330 Bechtel colleagues across design, engineering, procurement, and project delivery,” said Richard Freer, Managing Director of Bechtel’s Public Infrastructure Business in Australia. “Excellent project set up, led by the Federal Infrastructure Department, strong front-end planning, disciplined project controls, and new ways of integrating complex systems kept multiple contractors and interconnected packages moving towards the same completion date. That’s how we finished ahead of the schedule set back in 2018. Just as important, more than half of the workforce came from Western Sydney, so this airport was built by the community it now serves.”

Bechtel has been serving Australian communities and customers for more than 70 years with projects spanning airports, rail, mines, mineral processing facilities, LNG installations, refineries, chemical plants, power stations, and telecommunications infrastructure. At peak construction on WSI, the project team brought together around 4,000 people; across the full construction period, more than 11,000 people worked on the project, with more than half drawn from Western Sydney. The program also engaged more than 360 local businesses and exceeded its workforce participation targets for local, diverse, First Nations and learner workers.

WSI is Australia’s new 24-hour global gateway, providing domestic, international, and freight services, supporting Western Sydney’s long-term growth and Australia’s future aviation capacity.

About Bechtel 

Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction, procurement, and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our customers’ objectives to create a lasting positive impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world’s infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place. 

Bechtel serves the Energy; Infrastructure; Manufacturing & Technology; Mining & Metals; and Nuclear, Security & Environmental markets. Our services span from initial planning and investment through start-up and operations. 

Media Contact: Molly Edwards, medwards@bechtel.com

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SOURCE Bechtel