Construction of new Sydney airport terminal due to start next year

Construction of a passenger terminal at Sydney's new $5.3b international airport is expected to start by the end of next year after several large contractors were shortlisted for the work. The federal government has also released further concept designs for Western Sydney Airport's terminal at Badgerys Creek, which is about 50 kilometres west of Sydney's CBD. Western Sydney Airport, a wholly government-owned company, declined to put an estimate on the cost of building the terminal, arguing it would compromise competitive tender processes. The terminal is, however, included in the overall $5.3b cost estimate for the airport. The airport company has shortlisted Multiplex, Watpac and a Lendlease-CPB Contractors joint venture to tender for construction of the terminal. Its design will be finalised when the winning contractor is appointed in the middle of next year. The terminal will include a public plaza, shops, restaurants and cafes, and will be connected to the local transport network by the $1.8b M12 motorway – construction of which is due to start in 2022 – and a metro rail line to St Marys via two new stations at Luddenham and Orchard Hills. Major construction of the $8b Western Sydney Airport metro line is scheduled to start next year, allowing for the rail link to be operational in time for the airport's opening in 2026. The terminal is expected to be completed by 2025, the same time as the runway is finished, allowing for about a year to bed down operations before the first passengers pass through its gates.<br/>