Air New Zealand takes off from Western Sydney

Air New Zealand will launch the first international flights from the new Western Sydney airport, connecting Sydney’s greater west to Auckland from October 26.

The move sees the Kiwi carrier beat its Star Alliance sibling Singapore Airlines onto the departures board, with SQ’s Singapore-bound flights taking off from November 23.

Departures from WSI will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9am, arriving into Auckland at 2:15pm.

The NZ-AU leg will be wheels-up from Auckland at 6:05am, landing at Western Sydney International (Nancy Bird Walton) Airport at 7:50am.

Tickets are now on sale for the flights, which will be in a single-aisle Airbus A320neo or A321neo jet with an all-economy layout offering three fare ‘packages’.

Air New Zealand's WSI-AKL flights are now on sale.

However, if you’re looking to book one of these Western Sydney flights, note that at the time of writing, the WSI airport code is not recognised by the AirNZ booking engine – you have to select SYD, and then pick the flight tagged with WSI as either the arrival or departure airport.

Unless Air New Zealand finds a much better way to do this, we expect many travellers will come to grief by clicking and booking the wrong flight.

By comparison, here is the far superior way which Singapore Airlines treats WSI flights: you can select WSI on its own, and even if you choose Sydney or SYD you’ll still be prompted to confirm which airport you have in mind.

Singapore Airlines offers a much better way to confirm you want to fly to or from WSI.

Travellers with existing AirNZ bookings between Sydney Airport and Auckland, who would prefer to switch their flight to the new Western Sydney service, can make that change “without penalty, fare difference within the same cabin or tax difference.”

“This route will give Sydney siders greater connectivity to New Zealand’s largest city and main holiday destination, so they can enjoy more choice and flexibility, alongside WSI’s innovative and seamless customer experience in our state-of-the-art terminal,” said WSI chief Simon Hickey.

While the WSI loungescape has yet to be revealed, it’s expected that Air New Zealand passengers holding Koru Gold, Platinum or Black status – or the Star Alliance Gold equivalent – will have pre-flight access to an independently operated airport lounge.

Air New Zealand will be first on WSI's international departures board.

Lucy Hall, Air New Zealand’s General Manager for Short Haul and Domestic services, said the route “opens up a catchment of more than 2.5 million people, including a significant New Zealand community, and supports stronger business, tourism and visiting friends and family links between our two countries”.

“Together with our services to Sydney Kingsford Smith, this new route gives customers more choice and flexibility when travelling between New Zealand and Australia.”

As previously reported, Singapore Airlines will offer daily flights between WSI and its Singapore Changi super-hub starting November 23, with timing to take advantage of the airport’s 24-hour curfew-free operations.

Plying the route will be a modern Airbus A350-900 jet, although one kitted out with what Singapore Airlines calls its ‘medium-haul’ business class seats.

Each of the A350's 40 business class seats converts into a fully lie-flat bed.

Although generally well-appointed, many travellers find the 20"-wide seat makes for a tight fit, as does the cubby into which they slide their feet when the seat folds down into a fully lie-flat bed.

There are 40 seats in business class and 263 in economy; however, this version of SQ’s A350 lacks the popular premium economy cabin.

Read more: Singapore Airlines launches Western Sydney Airport flights

Up next: Qantas and Jetstar

Qantas and Jetstar also plan to fly from WSI, but have not yet confirmed start dates or routes.

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson has previously remarked “I expect you will see triangle operations” from Western Sydney to Melbourne and Brisbane, and Jetstar could follow suit while adding popular leisure destinations such as the Gold Coast.

WSI’s curfew-free status could also have strong appeal to Gulf carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, which often find a very late-night or early morning departure fits well into their morning wave of connections from their Middle Eastern hubs onto Europe and the UK.

Other airlines which have been suggested as likely WSI candidates include Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet and Cebu Pacific.