Rubenerd

Have an adorable fact from the MacRobertson Miller Airlines article:

MMA was affectionately referred to by the West Australian locals as "Mickey Mouse Airlines".

And another little factoid:

MMA usually named its aircraft after Western Australian rivers, and the last letter of the aircraft registration reflected this i.e. Fokker F27 "RMA SWAN" had VH-MMS, "RMA ROBE" VH-MMR etc. One exception was Fokker F27 VH-MMU, "RMA MABUHAY", leased from Philippine Airlines. The name meant "welcome" in one of the Filipino dialects.

Linked from there is the Perth Airport article, which is seeing quite the influx of traffic. The airport, I mean.

Passenger numbers have trebled in the past 10 years with more than 12.6 million people travelling through the airport in 2012. Based on the average growth rate, this figure will double to 24 million by 2019. The first mining boom in 1979 had 679,000 passengers use the airport. This number now travels through the airport every three weeks.

That said, I sure do agree with this:

In 2012, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released a report rating the Perth Airport as the worst in Australia, as judged by airlines. The same report rated it below satisfactory for the second year in a row.

When I was studying in Adelaide, I'd fly via Perth to get home for the holidays. Going from the world class Singapore Changi Airport and the brand new, cute, well designed Adelaide Airport, Perth was always a shock. Among my fondest memories, paying through the tooth for a very long shuttle bus ride between the Domestic and International terminals, and being told off by the surly bus driver when I asked for confirmation. I must have looked like a Sydneysider.

That said, Perth Airport has Dôme, which is enough to make up for it. I miss Dôme something fierce.

Photo of the MMA Fokker F28-1000 by John Wheatley.