Australia is experiencing an epidemic of “air rage”, with a flurry of alleged aviation-related assaults and angry incidents in recent weeks, including one involving an Indian tourist.
In the most recent incident, in Western Australia earlier this week, an Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer was allegedly stabbed with a pen by a female passenger.
Officials were called to Perth Airport on Monday evening when a 34-year-old woman on a Jetstar flight from Sydney refused to fasten her seatbelt for landing.
AFP officers met the plane at the airport and escorted the woman from the aircraft. It is then alleged that the woman struck one officer in the arm and another in the face and neck with a pen that was concealed in her clothing.
“An ambulance was called to treat the injured officers, one of whom was taken to Royal Perth Hospital. He spent the night in hospital,” police said.
The woman was charged with failing to comply with safety instructions given by cabin crew and causing harm to a commonwealth public official, an offence that carries up to 13 years’ imprisonment.
Less than a week earlier, on January 7, a flight from Bangalore, India, to Sydney had to be diverted due to disorderly behaviour by an Indian national on board who shouted, spat on the floor and refused to follow instructions.
Tourist Vikrum Dwarakanath, 46, was taken into custody upon arrival in Darwin, faced court the following day and was fined $5,000, NT News reported. He blamed alcohol for his behaviour and said he “lost control” of himself.
Darwin Local Court Chief Judge Elisabeth Morris remarked that the unemployed IT specialist’s behaviour would have been costly to the airline, and caused inconvenience, discomfort and annoyance to the other passengers on board due to the flight diversion.
Another incident occurred late last year involving a couple on a flight from Hobart. AFP officers were called when Analisa Josefa Corr, 53, and James Alexander Corr, 45, were allegedly acting disruptively on their Jetstar flight from Tasmania to Sydney, Nine News reported.
Police allege the couple were intoxicated and consumed alcohol they had brought onto the plane, and Ms Corr is also alleged to have assaulted a passenger outside the aircraft’s toilets.
The pair were arrested and escorted from Sydney airport upon arrival and taken to nearby Mascot police station where they were charged.
Ms Corr, the daughter of a former Australian Playboy model and ex-Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos, was charged with one count of common assault. The pair were charged with two counts of failing to comply with cabin crew safety directions and consuming alcohol not provided by flight attendants.
The couple faced Dowling Centre court on January 10 and agreed to bail conditions which include not drinking alcohol on planes or in airports, and the deposit of $20,000 each with the court. They are due back in court on February 24.
Also in late December a Sri Lankan man was arrested after getting off a flight to Melbourne and charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a female passenger on board.
Asanka Mathew Podiappuhamilage, 41, has been banned from leaving Australia until he faces court again in mid-March, News.com.au reported.
These incidents occur in the context of rapidly expanding immigration and a fast growing aviation sector.
According to the latest Intergenerational Report, Australia’s population is set to hit 40 million by around 2060, with over three quarters of this growth to come from migration. The top three countries of birth for immigrants are currently India, China and The Philippines.
Melbourne is set to expand its main airport in response to a massive increase in demand.
The city’s Tullamarine site has announced a $4.5 billion expansion of its International terminal in light of an increasing number of foreign arrivals. The airport is now experiencing all-time highs in international seat capacity, and it saw a record 1.1 million inbound arrivals in December – a number that is 113% of pre-pandemic levels.
A third runway is planned by 2031 in response to the predicted increase in passenger numbers, which are set to double to 83 million per year by 2046.
As Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus told The Age: “We’re setting new records for international passenger numbers and as Melbourne’s population grows, it’s important that our infrastructure grows too.”
Sydney’s new airport will start operating next year in the Western Sydney area of Badgerys Creek, and the city’s current Kingsford Smith airport is also set to grow.
The manager of Sydney Airport, Scott Charlton, told The Sydney Morning Herald that he expects the number of international passengers to grow from “40 million to 65 million by the 2030s and 80 million by 2050”.
Header image: Left, a woman allegedly attacks police at Perth Airport (AFP). Right, James and Analisa Corr (Facebook).