{"id":797119,"date":"2026-07-13T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T08:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/797119\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T08:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T08:00:12","slug":"wsi-airport-qantas-cargo-plane-makes-history-as-first-freight-flight-lands-at-new-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/797119\/","title":{"rendered":"WSI Airport: Qantas cargo plane makes history as first freight flight lands at new airport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>History has been made at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/travel\/western-sydney-international-airport-all-airlines-flying-20260211-p5o19y.html\" class=\"sc-jNzrEP eIMCEl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Australia\u2019s newest airport<\/a> with the first cargo aircraft touching down on the tarmac.<\/p>\n<p>The Qantas Airbus A321\u00a0successfully landed at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/travel\/western-sydney-international-airport-all-airlines-flying-20260211-p5o19y.html\" class=\"sc-jNzrEP eIMCEl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WSI <\/a>at 2pm, as part of a readiness flight ahead of regular freight operations starting in a few weeks.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/91bce6a3195ca2260b9896d9813dbc521f9a10e39a8262dd6f29dc41662d8815.jpeg\"  width=\"100%\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"_0b53bae146db0b62 _7475dd3391ee1518\" style=\"--text-color:var(--color-text-secondary)\">The first freight aircraft lands at Western Sydney International Airport.\u00a09News<\/p>\n<p>The landmark trial was done to help validate key operational processes at the airport\u2019s new Cargo Precinct, which will officially begin operation on July 27.<\/p>\n<p>That includes aircraft handling, ground operations, air-side coordination and cargo transfer procedures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWestern Sydney International Airport is set to become one of Australia\u2019s key air freight hubs and today\u2019s flight was an important opportunity to test key procedures ahead of starting operations,\u201d Qantas Freight Executive Manager Igor Kwiatkowski said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn just a few weeks, this new 24-hour facility will provide greater flexibility for our freight network, helping us meet growing demand for e-commerce and next-day deliveries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Acting Minister for Transport Kristy McBain said: \u201cThis is the largest plane to land at Western Sydney International Airport so far, as we get ready to open for freight services.<\/p>\n<p>The new airport would allow produce and products from the region reach new markets around the world, she added.<\/p>\n<p>The new terminal is expected to handle more than 850 tonnes of freight each week.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"western sydney international airport wsi\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cceadfeb5ff7d6e36b187af895581c4660a61592.png\"  width=\"100%\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"_0b53bae146db0b62 _7475dd3391ee1518\" style=\"--text-color:var(--color-text-secondary)\">Western Sydney Airport is opening to passengers in October.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n<p>Two domestic and two international airlines will be the first carriers to fly from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/australia-news\/western-sydney-airport-jet-landing-australia-20251028-p5zi66.html\" class=\"sc-jNzrEP eIMCEl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new Western Sydney International Airport<\/a>, with passenger\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/australia-news\/nsw\/western-sydney-airport-opening-date-first-flights-revealed-20260610-p605dh.html\" class=\"sc-jNzrEP eIMCEl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">flights officially taking off on October 25<\/a>, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Qantas and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/travel\/jetstar-new-plane-updates-remove-video-screens-add-wifi-boeing-787-dreamliner-20260210-p5o14u.html\" class=\"sc-jNzrEP eIMCEl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jetstar<\/a>, Singapore Airlines, and Air New Zealand have now confirmed their new flights from WSI, with passenger flights kicking off in October.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/company\/jetstar-26kf\" class=\"sc-jNzrEP eIMCEl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jetstar<\/a>\u00a0will operate the airport\u2019s first flight, with an Airbus A320 set to take off from WSI to the Gold Coast at 11am on October 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"History has been made at Australia\u2019s newest airport with the first cargo aircraft touching down on the tarmac.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-797119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}