Luggage scramble on Albany flight

Albany should be thankful to have an air service, according to Transport Minister Dean Nalder, after a recent incident left passengers on a flight to Perth without their luggage.

On Sunday, June 12, passengers on the Regional Express Airlines flight from Albany to Perth were asked to remove important contents from their bags before departure as not all luggage would be flown on the same flight.

REX confirmed this was because of poor weather conditions in Perth, which meant the aircraft was required to carry extra fuel.

In Parliament last week, Member for Albany Peter Watson asked Mr Nalder if this practice provided an appropriate experience for tourists and visitors to the Great Southern.

Mr Nalder replied that the State Government had worked hard to ensure an adequate service level for the people of Albany.

“We are in the situation of the major airlines no longer wanting to deliver services to the smaller regional areas,” he said.

“There is no question that there have been a couple of hiccups along the way, no question, and they will be reviewed and they will be discussed with the airline.

“I really think that it is important and incumbent on anybody who lives in that community that they start to support that service, because they are very fortunate to have one.”

Mr Watson, who was on the flight, said passengers were boarding while others were leaving to rummage through their luggage on the tarmac.

“It was a complete shambles,” he said.

“I’ve been flying there for 16 years now ... we have never had luggage taken off because they have had bigger planes.

“They (REX) have the smallest luggage hold I have ever seen in my life.”

A REX spokeswoman said the luggage decision was a rare event as a result of poor weather conditions in Perth.

“In order to minimise further disruption to passengers, it is standard practice to provide passengers with the opportunity to remove any important contents from their bags,” she said.

“There is no danger present in doing this on the tarmac.

“Since commencing services on February 28, Rex has operated 352 flight departures from Albany to Perth up until June 12 and this is the first departure from Albany where there has been an operational issue with uplifting all passengers and baggage.”

The spokeswoman said offloaded baggage was returned to passengers on the next available service at 6.30am on Monday morning.