Jetstar’s first flight to Western Sydney Airport arrives early

Jetstar has conducted its first test flight to Western Sydney International with a full complement of passengers, ensuring that the plane’s taxi routes to the gates, the aerobridge, and the fuelling process all go as expected.

Flight JQ7990 from Melbourne carried a crew but no passengers, and arrived 14 minutes early at 9.16am.

Jetstar Chief Pilot Captain Tyrone Simes said the “flight was about getting to know the airport before we carry customers,” particularly around ground service equipment.

“It’s quite a collaborative team effort between the different departments on the ground, both in the flight deck cabin coordination and with refuelling procedures,” he said.

The flight, designed as a test run of what will be regular operations, landed at a moment of heightened scrutiny about the safety of Australian aviation.

Sydney Airport in the city’s east has seen a rash of incidents on the ground, which has raised questions about the staff and workload of the Sydney Airport Tower’s air traffic controllers. Western Sydney International uses a digital control tower , with flights into and out of the airport monitored by humans at a remote location in Eastern Creek, NSW.

The Jetstar’s trial flight also let the Western Sydney Airport ground team practice their work with mock customers. Hundreds of volunteers acted as passengers to test the boarding and baggage systems, but did not actually participate in the flight.

The Jetstar plane also conducted the test to ensure the flight crew’s ability to navigate around the taxiways and the infrastructure around the airport.

Simes said the use of a Western Sydney’s digital air traffic control tower made no difference in the landing of the A320. “It was seamless actually,” Simes said.

Simes said he was confident that there will be enough air traffic controllers in Sydney to handle two airports when Western Sydney opens fully on October 25 .

“We’re working very closely with Airservices [Australia] on some of the issues that have been raised of late.

“Of course we wouldn’t operate if the environment wasn’t safe,” said Simes. “So we’re absolutely confident that Airservices are able to satisfy those requirements.”

“And we’ll continue to work on the issues that need [to be addressed],” he said.

Western Sydney International’s chief operating officer Matt Duffy said that there have been 77 trials since they began last October, or roughly two a week, every week.