Freighter operations take off at WSI

Dedicated freighter operations took flight this week at the new Western Sydney International Airport’s twenty-four hour cargo precinct. The first freighters, operated by carriers including Texel Air Australasia, Qantas, ASL Airlines Australia and Airwork, began touching down and taking off in regular commercial service at Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport (WSI) on July 27. [caption id="attachment_57298477" align="aligncenter" width="1850"] WSI now handles Airbus and Boeing freighters from several operators. (Courtesy/Western Sydney International Airport)[/caption] “Major infrastructure projects like Western Sydney International only come along once in a generation,” John Chisholm, chairman of Chisholm Enterprises, which owns Texel Air Australasia, told Cargo Facts . “Airports of this scale shape the way trade and logistics develop for decades and opportunities to participate from day one are incredibly rare.” The airport property, which covers about eighteen square kilometers, includes a nearly four-kilometer runway, a single parallel taxiway and additional rapid-exit taxiways designed for both domestic and international traffic, including cargo traffic, according to WSI's master plan. The airport’s long-term plan, which extends past 2050, includes the addition of at least two freighter aircraft stands and the construction of a second runway. Texel Air Australasia operates a fleet of six 737-800BCFs and Chisholm Enterprises Chief Executive George Chisholm told Cargo Facts that Texel would base one of them at WSI for charters. Inaugural cargo shipments at WSI were handled by Menzies Aviation, which saw its 12,500-square-meter facility at the airport begin operations alongside the cargo precinct. The facility is the handler’s largest within its Oceania and Southeast Asia network, according to a Menzies release. The handler has signed a fifteen-year lease at WSI. Within WSI’s first twenty-four hours of operation, Qantas Freight transported more than 160,000 parcels through its facility, a spokesperson for the airport told Cargo Facts . All day, every day “Cargo doesn’t operate on a nine-to-five schedule and neither should cargo infrastructure,” Chisholm Enterprises’ John Chisholm said. “The ability to move freight at any hour of the day creates meaningful advantages for customers across the region.” In the coming weeks, WSI is expected to see shipments of time-sensitive cargo, perishables, pharmaceuticals, high-value goods and more, the airport spokesperson said. The first stage of the cargo precinct has a maximum annual throughput capacity of 250,000 tonnes and is equipped to handle eight widebody freighters such as 747Fs or 777Fs or sixteen domestic narrowbodies simultaneously, the WSI spokesperson said. The precinct eventually will become the center of airfreight for the region, handling as much as 1.8 million tonnes of throughput annually, the spokesperson added. Cargo Facts Symposium 2026, the premier event for the freighter aircraft and air cargo industries, will take place in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 21-23. Find out more and register by Sept. 4 to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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