BRISBANE to FRASER COAST HERVEY BAY (BNE-HVB) on Qantas Dash 8-300
With an FT meet planned for the afternoon I took the opportunity to arrive in Brisbane early enough for a quick turnaround somewhere I haven't been before. Schedule constraints limited the options somewhat so I settled on Hervey Bay.
In various places (even within the Qantas website) the destination is sometimes referred to as Fraser Coast and sometimes as Hervey Bay. Confusing if you aren't aware of the dual names.
I'd come across from international terminal. Thanks to the inefficiencies that make up most major Australian airport this simple exercise took nearly an hour after arrival, despite use of express immigration and xray. I already had my onward boarding pass thanks to OLCI and PYOBP, and had no bags to check. Thus I did not need to head to the Qantas domestic transfer desk at the far right hand end of landside arrivals level.
For the unacquainted on reaching landside you cannot simply walk to domestic terminal which is a couple of kilometers away. Cab fares are high thanks to airport charges. The airtrain from the city travels between the terminals. Like Sydney, it is free for connecting Qantas passengers and a charge for everyone else. Up a level to the walkway over to the station. I got a ticket stub for the train good for 1 int->dom transfer, to be handed in on leaving the domestic airport station. Then I waited along with dozens of others for about 30 minutes in the sticky heat for the next train to come along.