On international flights into Australia where the flight has an onward domestic leg with the same flight number, passengers are able to clear immigration at the final Australian international airport, however, the same provision does not apply if there is a change of flight number when the flight is still a domestic leg of an international flight.
For example, QF 10 London – Perth – Melbourne passengers have the benefit of transiting in Perth and being cleared in Melbourne. However, if a passenger on the same QF10 London – Perth changes in Perth to travel on QF6 Perth – Sydney, they must clear immigration in Perth with their bags, recheck in for the QF6 flight and clear back through immigration.
Passengers on a domestic leg of an international flight also require an ‘Orange D’ sticker to be manually added to their boarding pass with their form of identification handwritten onto the sticker by airline staff. The requirement for noting the form of identification inhibits the use of digital solutions to replace the sticker and delivery of self-service.
