The construction of the new international airport in the backyard of South Western Sydney and Macarthur is directly injecting more than $100 million into the region’s businesses, large and small.
Two Way Cranes Founding Director Frank Zammit says he is proud to see his cranes at work on the airport construction site as a subcontractor on major earthworks.
“I’m a proud Bringelly boy and have lived in Western Sydney all my life – my family were local dairy farmers in the area – and watching the progress being made here and being a part of it is so exciting,” Mr Zammit said.
“It’s exciting to be playing a part in the future development of Western Sydney and it’s great to see the opportunities the airport is already bringing to local businesses and workers.”
Simon Hickey, the chief executive officer of Western Sydney Airport, said local firms – from Indigenous businesses to small and family-run businesses – are delivering equipment and services needed to build the new airport.
“Beyond this direct investment, we know the flow-on effects of this economic stimulus go much further when it comes to boosting the local economy, whether it’s the construction worker buying lunch at the local café or refuelling at the local petrol station,’’ he said.
“This is just the beginning – the employment and investment opportunities for Western Sydney will continue to significantly increase once terminal construction commences later this year and runway construction begins in 2022.”
Half the project’s workforce is from Western Sydney, exceeding the construction phase target of 30 per cent.
From 2026 when the airport opens, at least 50 per cent of people working at the airport must be from Western Sydney.
“This project will be a game-changer for locals who want to work closer to home and have more time to spend with their families, not just in the construction phase, but for many decades to come,” Mr Hickey said.
- In other airport news, new vision shows the incredible transformation of the site since earthworks began. More than 20 million cubic metres of earth has been moved to date in what is one of the biggest earthmoving challenges in Australian history. The time lapse animation demonstrates the significant engineering feat under way to build Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, using 3D survey scans combined with high-grade satellite imagery to capture the evolving topography of the massive 1,780-hectare site.
