DRW
- DARWIN AIRPORT reviews
Page
1 of 1

Add a Comment to
Airport Forum
Darwin Airport by Steven Parish
8 April 2008 Customer Rating : 
Darwin airport might be fine for domestic flights but is not up to scratch as an international
airport. With more Tiger and Jetstar flights to Asia via Darwin, this airport needs to lift its
game. It took nearly an hour to get through immigration and customs on my flight from Singapore,
which was only 60% full. Only three immigration officers on duty - one queue for all nationalities -
while two customs officers eyeing the stationary queue for drug mules. These officers then searched
every second bag (welcome to Australia!) before we got into the small and uninspiring terminal where
check-in queues can be horrendous.
Darwin Airport by P Taylor
28 February 2008 Customer Rating : 
If you want slow immigration clearances and unfriendly staff on arrival Darwin is your port of
choice. Most flights arrive into Darwin in the early hours of the morning. Staff is always short.
And everyone is given the third degree and queuing is not segregated. So if your an Australian
behind a family of 5 overseas visitors expect to sit waiting for them while visas, travel
arrangements and passports are examined in every minute detail even though most residents arriving
are a quick once over. I choose to fly into any other airport in Australia if returning from
international destinations. The last flight I returned from overseas was a Tiger flight from
Singapore. It was full and 90min late. Approximately 30% of the flight were late for a connecting
Melbourne flight which was awaiting them. All these 30% were poorly directed to just 1 immigration
staff, while 1 experienced and 2 trainees looked after the rest of the flight. Most of the transit
customers lined up in the normal queue and were returned to the back of the transit queue once they
reached the front as there were only a few staff giving verbal directions to arriving customers.
In addition the International arrival and departure areas are small. Its not uncommon for arriving
queues to snake back through the airbridges. It looks as if the international terminal was added as
an afterthought. The only thing Darwin Airport has going for it is free and ready access to smoking
areas in departure lounges.
Darwin Airport by Trevor Hoad
17 January 2008 Customer Rating : 
Compared to other airports its very small but pleasant with limited shops and dinning options. Very
quick check-in and cleared security in record time. Had to walk out through a sheltered walkway to
board the flight to Perth.
Darwin Airport by J Buche
24 December 2007 Customer Rating : 
Regrettably domestic doesn't have much in the way of seating for waiting passengers whose check-in
desks have not opened as access to shops and departure lounges is through security with only a small
cafe on the ground floor. The airport needs to invest in some waiting area seats, provide some more
vending machines, entertainment facilities and more ground floor shops.
Darwin Airport by Christian Hodson
5 July 2005 Customer Rating : n/a
I have made frequent visits to Australia both for business and pleasure over the last
ten years, although in April I made my first visit to Darwin. I arrived domestically
on a Qantas flight from Adelaide and there were no complaints - hardly any distance
to walk from the arrival gate and relatively quick baggage delivery. My international
departure to Singapore, however, a few days later was a different story. Check-in
takes place for all flights, domestic and international, in a very small terminal
area. There were two check-in staff servicing a fairly full A330-300 aircraft
and although we arrived a good 2 hours prior to departure we had to queue practically
outside the terminal building and by the time we arrived at the desk we had about
twenty minutes to get through immigration and security. As a result the flight had to
be delayed. Qantas international departures use gate 6 I think at Darwin - three
immigration officers were on duty for the whole flight which I find to be completely
unacceptable. The gate area contains one duty free shop / cafe and has seating
for about 80 people at best - I can imagine a huge delay here to be purgatory. The
upside of the airport is that it is only 5-10 minutes from the city centre by car and
would probably have to rate as one of the best landings into an airport in the world
for scenery, but they need to get one or two things sorted, particularly the
international flight departures, before it can be regarded as being a great gateway
to a fantastic Australian city.
Darwin Airport by Xuess Wee
18 July 2003
The airport is rather small compared to its other Australian siblings, then again it only served a
handful of International Airlines (mainly Garuda, Continental & Qantas). Only 5-10 minutes from the
Esplanade of Darwin via Airport Shuttle Bus - it's practically built on the edge of the city.
Checking-in and clearing customs are done efficiently with minimal fuss. I was in the Domestic
Terminal and it does have 1 thing that strikes me most - 3 large electrifying photos of
lightning
decked the walls of the waiting hall, leaving a strong impression.
ADD YOUR COMMENTS BELOW
IMPORTANT
NOTE
Comments
and opinions contained in these pages do not represent the views of Skytrax. All features contain unsolicited input from site visitors, and we
seek to exercise the minimum level of editorial control and censorship to
ensure the widest debate and platform for customer opinions. We
will not publish submissions that contain abusive language. We do not
guarantee to publish all opinions submitted.
ADD A COMMENT
If
you want to make a comment about this Airport, please use the box below.
This is only published if your name is supplied.
|