FLY UNITED WITH A BLANKET

Before the Territory and Federal governments enthusiastically support new airline operators starting up , they should insist that the newcomers have reasonable -not primitive- terminal facilities. Darwin resident tells us that when he flew to Melbourne with a cut price airline he disembarked at Tullamarine and had to walk a long way across the tarmac in freezing conditions .

Luggage was delivered 20 minutes later to something like a tent , whipped by gusty wind, where everyone froze. Teeth chattered , people hugged each other trying to keep warm . Thinly clad travellers from overseas who had been enjoying the tropical north were shocked.

Our informant subsequently went down with the flu . While it is customary to crack jokes about Melbourne’s weather, this situation should not be tolerated . The NT’s proposed Aviation Director should be told that inferior arrangements for Territory travellers are to be rejected .


Another Darwinite who makes flights with various airlines is concerned about the way aircraft are cleaned. He has found seat pockets like middens , stuffed with old boarding passes many weeks old, assorted confectionery packets , wrappers , chewing gum , even a nappy . He has also become familiar with a persistent frequent flyer brown stain, which may be due to coffee, but you never know when it comes to splashes of this hue .

Hope somebody involved in guarding Australia from nasty pandemics being brought in from overseas reads this as Darwin is the front door in more ways than one.