Australia's worst airport named

[Ryan N]

Australia's worst airport named
Chris Thomson
December 10, 2008

Flights from Broome Airport depart later on average than anywhere else in Australia, and WA's other airports aren't much better, a Federal Government report has revealed.

The Commonwealth Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics 'Airline On Time Performance' report found that in October flights out of the privately-owned airport departed more than 15 minutes late 37.7 per cent of the time.

This compared to the national average of 22.5 per cent late departures.

Broome Shire President Graeme Campbell said he wasn't so worried about the late departures, but more about when scheduled flights simply did not leave the regional airport.

"I think people understand that airlines can and do run late, but of more concern is when you have a plane on the ground that doesn't leave and tourists have an unscheduled stopover," Cr Campbell said.

"We had a case recently where an aircraft had engine problems and the passengers could not be accommodated in town because everything was booked out.

"That was a concern because it would have taken the gloss off their otherwise enjoyable holiday."

Of 30 major airports surveyed nationally, not one WA airport rated in the top 10 for on-time departures or arrivals.

Of the 48 surveyed routes across Australia, none that originated or left WA ranked in the top 10.

The report found that of 96 flights leaving Broome in October only 60 departed on time. Eighty of the 111 flights that arrived in the tourist town did so on schedule.

The worst offender at the airport was Virgin Blue whose 13 flights only departed on schedule 30.2 per cent of the time.

Virgin Blue's 24 flights to Broome arrived on schedule 55.8 per cent of the time.

Ironically, of 11 flights Cr Campbell has taken with various carriers both to or from the airport in recent weeks, only one - a Virgin Blue plane from Perth yesterday - arrived on schedule.

"It departed Perth on time and arrived 10 minutes early actually," Cr Campbell said.

QantasLink departed Broome on schedule 82.0 per cent of the time and arrived on schedule 80.0 per cent of the time, followed by Qantas (69.0 and 79.3) and Skywest (68.8 and 75).

In Perth, 72.2 per cent of domestic flights departed on time, and only 69.3 per cent arrived on schedule. That figure compared to the national average of 76.4 per cent on time arrivals.

The CEO of Australia's North West Tourism, Glen Chidlow, refused to comment on what impact the airport's poor performance was likely to have on tourist numbers.

WA Today

[D Chan]

Originally Posted by Ryan N

The CEO of Australia's North West Tourism, Glen Chidlow, refused to comment on what impact the airport's poor performance was likely to have on tourist numbers.

any impact would probably be next to none, really

[Bob C]

You're probably correct about "Broome Time" Liam as there's a pretty laid back attitude to everything in the Kimberleys (and throughout "Wait Awhile" for that matter).

And I also suspect you're correct about late arrivals from Perth as that port often suffers from the "ripple effect" of delays earlier in the day along the Eastern seaboard.

There's not a lot that can be done by airport staff in Perth when inbound flights from the East are running late so intra W A flights are bound to suffer.

[Robert Zweck]

Originally Posted by D Chan

any impact would probably be next to none, really

The average Joe Public wouldn't know and wouldn't care.