Aussie airport does not live up to its grandiose international name
By Brian Johnston
The Airport
Broome International Airport, BME
The Flight
Virgin Australia VA1482 from Broome to Perth (PER).
The Arrival
The airport is 10 minutes from Cable Beach and very close to town, but leave some leeway for Broome’s erratic and (at flight-departure times) in-demand taxi service. You won’t have far to walk: the drop-off zone is right outside the sole terminal and, once through the doors, you’re practically bumping up against the check-in line. Trolleys are free.
The Look
Broome International Airport: Small and efficient.Credit: iStock
Although trial flights to Singapore were conducted pre-COVID, the airport has yet to live up to its grandiose international name. The collection of grey buildings with grey corrugated roofs could easily pass for a small tropical resort. The approach is nicely landscaped with flowering trees and an arresting camel sculpture made from rusty car parts.
Check In
There are no self-check-in booths, just a row of counters emblazoned with Qantas, Air North and Virgin Australia logos. Only a handful of passengers are queuing in front of me, and the check-in staff are efficient to the point of brusqueness. Am I offended? Not at all. Beats dawdling through a lengthy, sluggish queue any day.
Security
The security area is adjacent, just around a pane of glass. It’s abundantly attended by staff in dark grey uniforms, but the body-scan machine isn’t working and the sole metal detector slows things down. So does the rigorous baggage scan: everything has to come out and be laid bare – perhaps even false teeth. I suffer an additional random explosives swab: Broome must be a hotbed of revolutionaries. Still, with only a single departing flight, it’s all relatively painless.
Food + Drink
Past security, a covered courtyard with whirling ceiling fans has plenty of tables, and some passengers tuck into BYO breakfast. The single food outlet, Nakamura’s Cafe – named for an old-time pearl diver – is doing stiff business: coffee and cold drinks, good-looking sandwiches, goblets of muesli and yogurt. It’s only 9.30am, so there’s not much demand for the pies, sausage rolls and beer yet.
Retail Therapy
Panadanus Gift Shop will be a godsend to anyone who hasn’t yet completed their souvenir shopping: locally-made handicrafts, cookie-cutter artworks, minor pearls and striking aerial photos of Kimberley landscapes await. Across the way, the modest Akitsu Boutique sells cheerful clothes and bags with Indigenous designs.
Passing Time
Wi-Fi is currently unavailable, but you shouldn’t have a problem with your phone connection. A compact open-air courtyard is arrayed with potted plants but delivers only Broome’s ferocious sunshine and no outlooks. An air-conditioned lounge offers respite, but begins to get overcrowded as the next batch of passengers for a later flight starts to arrive. Pity the terminal doesn’t have views of the runway. You won’t want to arrive early but, given the size of the airport, you won’t need to.
The Verdict
No frills or thrills, but BME is small and efficient, and delivers what you fundamentally want in an airport: it gets you up and away without undue stress or wasted time.
Our Rating Out Of Five
★★★★
The writer was a guest of Coral Expeditions.
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