Sri Lankan Dance Academy of Sydney Performs at the Opening of Western Sydney International Airport
Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport officially opened to passengers on Sunday, 25 October 2026, marking the arrival of Australia’s first new major airport in more than five decades. As the new international gateway brings a major transport facility to Sydney’s west, the Sri Lankan Dance Academy of Sydney (SLDAS) says it was honoured to showcase Sri Lankan traditional dance as part of the airport’s opening celebrations.
The airport’s opening and first flights were reported by ABC News and detailed in the Prime Minister of Australia’s opening speech. The academy’s participation, however, is recounted by SLDAS in its own statement shared through the eLanka Facebook page. While the official airport coverage confirms the event and its significance, it does not name every cultural performance; the academy’s account is therefore presented here as its own recollection.
A new airport for Sydney’s west
Located at Badgerys Creek, 45 kilometres from Sydney’s central business district, Western Sydney International is designed to operate around the clock. The first commercial flight, a sold-out Jetstar service to the Gold Coast, took off just before 11:30am on opening day. The airport’s first international flight, an Air New Zealand service to Auckland, departed on Monday, 26 October.
The opening ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, NSW Premier Chris Minns and Western Sydney International Chief Executive Officer Simon Hickey. The airport has been designed for growth: its terminal is initially sized for about 10 million passengers a year, while the wider airport is planned to accommodate up to 82 million passengers annually by the 2060s.
For people living in Sydney’s west, and for travellers visiting family, friends and communities across Australia, the airport adds a second international gateway to the city. Its opening is a significant change in the region’s transport landscape, and a moment that brought together infrastructure, community and cultural representation.
SLDAS’s account of a milestone performance
In its statement, the Sri Lankan Dance Academy of Sydney says it was given the opportunity to perform Sri Lankan traditional dance at the airport’s opening celebrations. The academy describes itself as the only Sri Lankan cultural dance academy in Australia selected for the occasion, and calls the invitation a once-in-a-lifetime milestone in its 11-year history.
The academy’s account places the performance within a longer journey of teaching and preserving Sri Lankan dance in Australia. For SLDAS, the airport occasion was not simply a performance at a prominent venue; it was an opportunity, as the academy describes it, to represent Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage on a major public platform in the country where its students live and learn.
The academy thanked Dave Madelly, Co-Founder of Spirit Group, and the Spirit Group team for entrusting SLDAS with the opportunity. It also expressed appreciation to the NSW Government, Western Sydney International Airport and the people involved in organising the opening occasion.
SLDAS specifically acknowledged the artists Suneth Perera, Kolitha Niroshan Thenuwara, Nisal Olaboduwa and Priyan Chandrakumara, thanking them for their talent, commitment and contribution to the performance. Amali, Dhanushi and Saumya were recognised for behind-the-scenes work, including coordinating rehearsals and organising costumes.
The academy’s tribute also highlighted its students, whose dedication, discipline and commitment, it said, had brought the group to this moment. Their participation reflects the important role students play in keeping traditional arts active: learning the movements, music and performance practices, then carrying them into community settings far from their origins.
AI-generated illustrative image of an academy’s students and teacher; it is not a photograph of SLDAS or the airport performance.
Eleven years of teaching and cultural connection
Founded and directed by Thilini Wanigathunga, SLDAS teaches traditional Kandyan, or Udarata, dance, alongside contemporary and Bharatanatyam styles. Its classes are offered for toddlers, children, teenagers and adults, creating opportunities for learners at different stages of life to engage with dance and Sri Lankan cultural heritage.
The academy’s stated purpose is to pass Sri Lanka’s history and culture on to the next generation of AusLankans, while providing a safe community in which first-generation Australian children can learn about their ethnicity and develop a sense of belonging. That mission gives the airport performance a particular resonance: cultural knowledge is not only preserved in classrooms and rehearsals, but also shared with wider audiences through public performances.
SLDAS has also performed at community events and at the Sydney Opera House. Its concert Duwarna presented Kandyan and Pahatharata dance styles, offering audiences a further opportunity to experience the range and character of Sri Lankan traditional performance. Readers can learn more about the academy through its official website, and revisit eLanka’s feature on SLDAS’s Duwarna concert.
For an organisation marking 11 years of activity, being invited to participate in an occasion of this scale is a notable chapter in its story. The academy’s statement connects the milestone to years of rehearsals, preparation and collective effort, while recognising the artists, organisers, students and supporters who contributed.
A moment of visibility for Sri Lankan culture
The airport’s opening was a landmark for Western Sydney and for Australia’s aviation network. In SLDAS’s account, it was also an opportunity to bring Sri Lankan traditional dance into a significant public setting and to represent the Sri Lankan community across Australia.
That distinction matters. The airport’s physical scale and long-term passenger capacity point to the region’s growth; the academy’s contribution, as it describes it, speaks to the cultural communities that help shape the life of that region. The two stories sit alongside one another without being conflated: the airport’s opening is documented through official and news sources, while the dance academy’s role is attributed to SLDAS’s own statement.
For eLanka readers planning to use Sydney’s new airport, the opening marks the arrival of another international gateway on the city’s western side. For the Sri Lankan community, the academy’s account adds a cultural dimension to the occasion: a reminder that traditions carried across generations can find a place on contemporary Australian stages and platforms.
The achievement belongs to the academy and the people it thanked, while its wider significance lies in the visibility it offers Sri Lankan cultural practice. Eleven years of teaching and performance have brought SLDAS to a moment it describes as historic: one that its students, artists and community can remember as a proud milestone in the continuing story of Sri Lankan culture in Australia.
Sources
- Sri Lankan Dance Academy of Sydney statement shared by eLanka: https://www.facebook.com/eLanka.com.au/posts/pfbid02JDiF5eRTPVc9ogsQq3fA4H2DEQRTmgY5Axn7mLrbpUFNMiCUXS75TeT3ZMnVAip9l?rdid=sqOjXUTDhNsV1v7H#
- ABC News, Western Sydney International Airport opens to passengers, with its first commercial flights: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-25/western-sydney-international-airport-open-day-sunday-october-25/107293784
- Prime Minister of Australia, Opening of Western Sydney International Airport: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/opening-western-sydney-international-airport
- Sri Lankan Dance Academy of Sydney website: https://www.sldasydney.com/
This article was written based on the source https://www.facebook.com/eLanka.com.au/posts/pfbid02JDiF5eRTPVc9ogsQq3fA4H2DEQRTmgY5Axn7mLrbpUFNMiCUXS75TeT3ZMnVAip9l?rdid=sqOjXUTDhNsV1v7H#, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-25/western-sydney-international-airport-open-day-sunday-october-25/107293784, https://www.pm.gov.au/media/opening-western-sydney-international-airport and https://www.sldasydney.com/, kindly email us at info@eLanka.com.au if any information needs to be corrected.
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