Illawarra residents could grab a share of the thousands of jobs expected to be created by the new Western Sydney Airport.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The airport, located at Badgery’s Creek, is expected to open in 2026.
Surrounding the airport will be what former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced as an “aerotropolis” – a city that is built up around an airport.
Graham Millet, CEO of the federal government-owned Western Sydney Airport Corporation – which is overseeing the project – was in the region to speak at an Illawarra First forum.
Mr Millet said the Illawarra region could become an important source of labour for the airport.
“I would think so – there’s going to be a very large number of jobs created as a result of the airport but also as a result of the aerotropolis and the surrounding private sector precincts,” Mr Millet said.
“The current estimates show that during the construction of the airport there will be something like 11,000 jobs created.
“And after the airport opens there will be 28,000 jobs that are associated with the airport.
“In the wider region associated with Western Sydney the jobs that will be created number something like 200,000.”
As well as providing work opportunities, Illawarra residents looking to board a plane will find a benefit in the Western Sydney Airport.
“I think the airport will serve as a much more convenient way of getting out of Australia – or into other parts of Australia – for residents of the Illawarra,” Mr Millet said.
“At the moment getting into Kingsford Smith Airport can be painful for everybody. It’s got severe strains on its transport links – both rail and road – and that probably won’t change.”
What was needed to enhance that connection was physical links between the Illawarra and Sydney.
That meant better road links; while roads around western Sydney leading into the airport are being upgraded, Illawarra residents would still have to get there via either Picton or Appin roads.
An improved rail link – such as the Maldon-Dombarton line – would also be beneficial given the Western Sydney Airport Corporation’s plan to make it a “major freight and logistics hub”.
I think the linkage is always possible,” Mr Millet said of the Maldon-Dombarton line.
“It comes down to patronage, and the economics of it. I think over time that will happen. It’s really a question of when more than anything else.”
Mr Millet said any infrastructure didn’t necessarily have to be in place ahead of the airport’s planned 2026 opening.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
