Transit in Perth? Never again.

[oz_mark]

Some here may identify with this article

Transit in Perth? Never again. - Thursday, 19th July 2007 at 4Hoteliers

LC lands in Australia to find a city literally asleep -

I used to wonder why a friend living in Perth used to insist on saying he actually lived in Fremantle. It always seemed a bit like a Singaporean insisting that no, they were from Tampines.

Passing through Perth on Sunday, I suddenly understood why.

[....see the article for more....]

But the treatment of international transit passengers here was still inexcusable. They had spent thousands to be treated like second-class passengers.

If Qantas and Perth aren't ready to operate a Western-standard airport service here, Qantas should not offer transits to Perth.

 

[jaxjax]

Sounds like he got the double whammy at PER! The International and Domestic terminals are almost in different postcodes and the early morning queues for fly-in-fly-out workers. I've been stuck at the back of this queue for an early morning PER-MEL flight and I'm an early-bird getting there at 4.30 only to have to queue for 90 minutes in the "QuickCheck" line. Bit of a joke really...

Can't see it changing though, unless a real public transport link is established between terminals or they move the domestic terminal closer to the international!

jaX

 

[oz_mark]

Sounds like he got the double whammy at PER! The International and Domestic terminals are almost in different postcodes and the early morning queues for fly-in-fly-out workers. I've been stuck at the back of this queue for an early morning PER-MEL flight and I'm an early-bird getting there at 4.30 only to have to queue for 90 minutes in the "QuickCheck" line. Bit of a joke really...

Can't see it changing though, unless a real public transport link is established between terminals or they move the domestic terminal closer to the international!

Both these things have been suggested and I understand this is what the government has said it wants. But with the airports owners more focused on developing land than running a modern efficient airport it may be a while before this happens.

 

[StevePER]

This guy seems like a bit of a clown - yes the transit is cough but that doesn't mean Perth is a "cowboy town" or explain why hippies like to live in Fremantle.

I think the long term plan at the airport is to move the domestic terminal over to the international side.

 

[oz_mark]

This guy seems like a bit of a clown - yes the transit is cough but that doesn't mean Perth is a "cowboy town" or explain why hippies like to live in Fremantle.

I think the long term plan at the airport is to move the domestic terminal over to the international side.

Yes, and by that they mean 2018.

 

[JohnK]

Never again! I have done that transit once and that was enough to last me a lifetime....

 

[stryker]

I did SIN-PER (TR), PER-CBR (QF) a couple of months ago.

Overall. a pretty good way to get from SIN to CBR, arriving at 6 am and no SYD transit.

Only annoyance was that at 9 pm on a weeknight there was no inter-terminal transfer available. So there went $20 on a taxi.

It is a bit third world in that regard (but I would probably do it again)...

 

[Evan]

Been there, done that, Could have just about made my own shirt to prove it in the time it takes to transfer !

But if it was a flight of the right price and i am not rushed for time sure, Its only a pain if you are in a rush or have a tight connection otherwise i can tolerate it.

The bus services need to run every 10 mins, not once an hour !

E

 

[dubno]

So as long as you're prepared to shell out for a cab, you can get from Int to Dom in a reasonable time (and at a time of your choosing, to avoid the 0430 queues) right?

Rich

 

[Evan]

So as long as you're prepared to shell out for a cab, you can get from Int to Dom in a reasonable time (and at a time of your choosing, to avoid the 0430 queues) right?

Rich

Yes but why should you have to shell out for a cab just to transfer between terminals. Really the bus service just takes so so long. I would not complian if it picked me up from QP domestic and took me over but having to leave the QP and find yourself waiting 45mins for a bus sux !
E

 

[jakob]

For anyone interested, there was a commentary in 'the west' today that touched on these issues somewhat....

Rail link to tunnel under runway : thewest.com.au

... knowing the on time completion of the new rail link to mandurah from Ms MacTiernan , some or none of this may occur in the next 15-20 years..

jakob

 

[dubno]

Yes but why should you have to shell out for a cab just to transfer between terminals. Really the bus service just takes so so long. I would not complian if it picked me up from QP domestic and took me over but having to leave the QP and find yourself waiting 45mins for a bus sux !
E

I agree, in principle it should not be necessary. The flip side seems to be that int fares ex PER seem attractive and drives some of this transit traffic. I'll be there flying MH J (int) and QF Y (dom) and am hoping for a limo transfer in at least one direction courtesy of MH. If I have to pay 1 cab fare, I can live with it, but take your point.

 

[Evan]

Did it a few weeks ago MEL-PER-SIN
And i would do it again, but just allow transfer time thats all. (I did allow transfer time just recently, and then delays to flights allowed me some more)

Prices and availability are good. Sure i would prefer direct to MEL but if via PER is all i can get at a reasonable price then i am there

E

 

[dubno]

Did it a few weeks ago MEL-PER-SIN
And i would do it again, but just allow transfer time thats all. (I did allow transfer time just recently, and then delays to flights allowed me some more)

Prices and availability are good. Sure i would prefer direct to MEL but if via PER is all i can get at a reasonable price then i am there

E

Well we've got 4 hour connection time on the way out and 6 hours on the way back. I'm hoping both should be sufficient.

 

[oz_mark]

For anyone interested, there was a commentary in 'the west' today that touched on these issues somewhat....

Rail link to tunnel under runway : thewest.com.au

... knowing the on time completion of the new rail link to mandurah from Ms MacTiernan , some or none of this may occur in the next 15-20 years..

jakob

Never mind the on-time completions, I would expect that Ms McTiernan is mor elikely to steer this thorugh to getting done that some of the other ministers. But really, they need to somehow get the WAC focussed on fixing the place before they start building r ail links to it.

 

[SeaWolf]

There really needs to be a lot of work done to make the domestic terminals more able to accomodate the mining boom. Almost every time I go through it the place is clogged with Fly In Fly Out workers and there's never enough staff on to handle them. Even worse is security. You just know that the 5 guys in front of you are all going to be wearing steel cap boots.

 

[oz_mark]

There really needs to be a lot of work done to make the domestic terminals more able to accomodate the mining boom. Almost every time I go through it the place is clogged with Fly In Fly Out workers and there's never enough staff on to handle them. Even worse is security. You just know that the 5 guys in front of you are all going to be wearing steel cap boots.

You;'ve been behind them as well

 

[serfty]

Only transited there once; It was a 20 hours transit ;p

mrs serfty and I spent a pleasant evening in town, slept at the Parmelia Hilton and arrive bright eyed at the airport for our flight to SIN.

 

[JohnK]

Did it a few weeks ago MEL-PER-SIN
And i would do it again, but just allow transfer time thats all. (I did allow transfer time just recently, and then delays to flights allowed me some more)

I would consider a transit in this direction again in the future. The worry is doing SIN-PER-SYD/MEL with the overnight SIN-PER flight and waiting 5+ hours for domestic connection.

 

[Reggie]

I'm not defending Perth's domwstic and internation airport or transfers between them however, a few points I'd like to make.

The majority of fly in fly out (FIFO) guys dont actually use the main terminals, they use the the National Jet, skippers and others at the end of the runway. The QF flights to KGI, KTA, PHE, ZNE and PBO even though generally full acutally account for a lot less pax numbers than all the other domestic flights especially SYD, MEL, BNE etc. Skywest also fly to some of these location, and BHP now use the mixed terminal (Virgin, Skywest) to fly their staff to Leinster and Mt Kieth (imagine the QP if those guys where still using QF :shock. Those pax who are from Perth and do FIFO or deal with the mines know well in advance of security that they have to have their steel caps off, its generally those pax from the east coast who have flown in the night before and stayed in a nearby hotel that get to the security and have failed to take off their steel caps and hold the lines up.

Also, as a note, it is actually Tuesday and Wednesday mornings that are busier at Perth, due to that being the 8&6 FIFO changeover day, and with the added numbers of those really important and precious pax who wont leave home on a Sunday evening to enable them to catch the very early Monday morning flights to the above mentoned towns.

Nojne of this excuses the current situation, but it all needs to be put into perspective, and allowing enough time to transfer, and planning flights to avoid the peak hours is important. I have had to wait over 2 hours in a line at Syd trying to transfer to the Domestic terminal after an SFO flight, luckily I made my connection, but others didn't, so I now leave more time, or will use a cab to the domestic if needed.

end of rant:evil: