From ABC
Qantas replaces stairs with ramps in Hobart to speed up boarding - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Qantas replaces stairs with ramps in Hobart to speed up boarding
Updated about 2 hours agoFri 12 Dec 2014, 4:27pm
Photo: Passengers disembark from a Qantas 717 at Hobart airport via the airlines new ramp system. (ABC News: Fiona Blackwood)
Map: Hobart 7000
Qantas has replaced boarding stairs with a ramp at Hobart airport to reduce the time it takes passengers to enter and disembark from planes.
In an Australian first, the new ramp is being used for Qantas Boeing 717 flights in Tasmania.
Qantas replaced turbo-prop plane services to Hobart with the 717 jets earlier this year.
The ramp was designed to improve the efficiency of boarding and disembarking, as well as to provide better access for passengers with mobility problems.
Qantas officials said the ramps cut back on time because all passengers used the same method of boarding, and staff did not have to ask people with special needs to wait until last.
QantasLink CEO John Gissing said the ramp would improve the experience for all passengers.
"Not only will it improve the customer experience by making it easier for all customers to board and disembark, it will improve our on time performance by making the boarding process quicker," he said.
A Qantas spokeswoman said the airline hoped to roll the ramps out to other airports in the country in the near future.
She said while the ramps were tailored for the Boeing 717, Qantas would be making them available for other airliners.