Sydney is getting a new airport. Western Sydney International Airport is being constructed in Sydney’s fast growing Western Suburbs and unlike the existing airport – Sydney Kingsford Smith – it won’t be subject to any curfew with airport movements occurring all day and night.
But this new airport is just missing one HUGE thing. Something that you can find at pretty much every other international airport in the world.
Due to open in 2026 Western Sydney International, also to be known as Nancy Bird Walton Airport, is poised to stand apart from older airports not just because of its sleek, modern design but because of a whole new approach to airport operations.
Because this is going to become the very first airport in Australia to operate entirely as a digitised aerodrome. Meaning it won’t have a control tower.
Instead of the traditional control tower you see at most other international airports, Western Sydney International and Airservices Australia will be installing an array of cameras monitoring the airport and surrounding airspace which ATC’s will use to position aircraft from a centralised control room.
The Digital Aerodromes will incorporate technologies including object tracking, night vision and image enhancement with infrared cameras allowing air traffic controllers to see aircraft at night and during periods of low visibility.
Digital Aerodromes aren’t a new thing with DAS systems operational in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany. But it’s a first for an Australian commercial airport.
Western Sydney International Airport has already announced agreements with Qantas, Virgin Australia, and now Singapore Airlines confirming they’ll be flying out of the new airport in 2026.