Perth Australia needs 3 hrs minimum for international-to-domestic connections
AI will not fix this mess.
Perth Australia needs 3 hrs minimum for international-to-domestic connections.
When the connections are too tight, the QANTAS domestic flight may depart part-empty rather than wait for checked passengers arriving from an international flight - and their baggage.
Arriving international flights may not get priority for a gate, so expect an added delay.
Best to consider travel with hand baggage only if there is no alternative to transiting Perth, or allow not less than 3+ hours manual baggage handling, re-checking bags and for delays.
Baggage double checking in - it was only revealed when checking in at LHR, that at Perth international baggage is not transferred automatically to a domestic flight, even if advised that it is “checked all the way through”.
Bags have to be collected on arrival from an international flight arriving at Perth, and checked in again for domestic connections.
QANTAS handling at Perth does not appear to be attuned to dealing with predictable issues, such as insufficient time between QF10 and QF938 (1 hrs 15 mins).
Manage Your Booking - It does not help that the Qantas app and website do NOT allow flights to be changed online, to give more time for a transfer.
UPDATE - Brisbane airport QANTAS service desk were unable to understand that Perth is manual baggage handling only. This requires 3 hours between flights.
UPDATE - Brisbane airport QANTAS HELP desk closed when we visited. No indications of opening hours.
Informal advice from a QANTAS employee- go to the airport very early and hope to get on an earlier flight.
Final update before switching airline:
Qantas advise phoning 131313 but this does not function, and the Qantas Brisbane airport office was closed as expected when I visited in person today.
6th attempt on 131313 Help on 7 July - Qantas declined to change the flight to allow 3 hours between flights for manual baggage transfer between flights, and would not change one flight in a 2-leg booking.
When discussing the time required at Perth to transfer baggage, it was evident that the Qantas 131313 help staff was Not aware that Perth Qantas has manual baggage handling, and requires 3 hours between flights for the manual re-checking and transfer of baggage between flights, ie including between international and domestic.