Qantas Freight commences operations from Western Sydney International Airport
Qantas Freight commenced (04-Aug-2026) services from Western Sydney International (Nancy Bird Walton) Airport following the opening of the airline's cargo terminal. The carrier's first service departed for Brisbane, with Qantas Freight estimating more than 160,000 parcels moved through the 24,000sqm facility in the first 24 hours. Domestic services will connect Western Sydney with Melbourne, Cairns, Adelaide, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth, with cargo continuing on connecting flights to regional centres. Qantas Freight expects weekly volumes through the terminal to exceed 850 tonnes. International operations are expected to commence in early 2027. The dedicated freighter fleet comprises two A330s and six A321s, with a further three A321F aircraft to be added. [more - original PR]
Background ✨
Qantas Domestic CEO Markus Svensson said Qantas Freight’s freighter test trials at Western Sydney International Airport “went very well”, and it built a “high tech and automated freight shelf” to improve efficiency, while cautioning the airport would take time to mature and initially skew leisure-focused.1 Australia Post and Qantas Group extended their 100-year air freight partnership by 10 years, aligning with Qantas Freight’s first commercial service for Australia Post from Western Sydney.2 Western Sydney International Airport said its 24-hour Cargo Precinct began inaugural commercial freight services, with stage one spanning about 733,000sqm and designed to handle multiple widebody and narrowbody freighters simultaneously; Qantas Freight, Menzies Aviation, dnata and Texel Air Australasia signed on.3 The airport began cargo trial operations on 13-Jul-2026 with a Qantas Freight A321F arrival, as part of its operational readiness programme, with regular domestic freight services expected from 27-Jul-2026 and weekly throughput forecast above 850 tonnes.4