Sunshine Coast Airport
Stories of Inclusion / Sunshine Coast Airport
Being mobility challenged, travelling can be daunting. As I am on bilateral crutches, I was also concerned about needing to wait for extended periods lining up, as this is difficult for me.
Travelling with children adds an extra layer of challenge to the mix. While many people can just arrive at the airport & ‘go with the flow’, it takes planning & organisation when I travel, which can be stressful.
Recently I had arranged to fly to Sydney for a holiday with my three children. I was somewhat apprehensive due to needing to navigate through the airport with the children & manage all our luggage.
However, prior to travelling I had visited the Cérge website wherein I found a huge amount of information about the Sunshine Coast Airport. I was able to view a floor plan of the airport, & even do a virtual walk through with a 360 degree virtual tour.
On the day of travel, I used the Cérge app to notify Sunshine Coast Airport of the time that I would be arriving & check in on arrival. The app itself also had extensive information about the airport & what to expect, including a comprehensive sensory guide.
Once the children & I arrived at the entrance to the baggage check-in, Jordan was waiting to greet us & guide us through to the Qantas check-in area. We were guided through a priority lane, which meant we didn’t have to line up. This in itself was a huge relief for me as prolonged standing is difficult.
At check-in, Jordan remained with us until all bags were tagged & checked through & we had received our boarding passes. We also discussed the possibility of assistance for boarding the flight & a lift was arranged for the time of boarding.
Jordan then walked us through to the security check. He assisted us to run all items through the security screen, & there was a chair for me to sit on for the purposes of screening.
After we had gone through security, Jordan showed us to our gate, provided me with a telephone number in case I needed anything prior to boarding, & was helpful, friendly & knowledgeable. We were then collected by Qantas staff & assisted to board the plane using the lift.
At no time throughout our whole time at the airport did I feel a burden to anyone, & I didn’t have to spend time trying to organise assistance or work out a way to navigate difficult areas. The stress was removed, such that by the time I sat in my seat on the plane I was relaxed & ready for our holiday, not stressed & exhausted from navigating our way through check-in, security & boarding.
What a wonderful service Cérge & the Sunshine Coast Airport offer. I have no doubt that Sunshine Coast Airport’s initiative to embrace inclusion & accessibility will make a huge difference to many.
Read More Stories
I am visually impaired, I can’t read signage in areas well, I zoom in on phones and websites and some things I just can’t see and never will.
The world is different for me than it may be for you and that’s ok. All I want is to be thought of and when needed, someone to be an extra set of eyes for me if required. I’m often overlooked.
I enjoy living my life and I really enjoy having fun. So when booking my trip to the Sunshine Coast I was extremely excited to learn about Cérge. I was ready and interested to see if maybe Cérge would be my travel buddy whilst there.
I enjoyed my time on the Sunshine Coast and visited a few places but my absolute highlight was using Cérge at the airport.
Here’s what usually happens for me when travelling:
Can’t see signs, get lost, get flustered, get stressed.
I have trouble reading where to go and what to do and then anxiety takes over and the whole experience just feels hard.
This time, wow.
I used the Virtual Tour from my own device and was able to mind map the Sunshine Coast Airport as best I could. I was able to familiarise myself with things like baggage, toilets and security.
After learning I could notify the airport about my arrival I was keen to give it a go.
Would be more be more nervous without it that’s for sure.
At the airport I checked in on the app as it shows I’ve arrived :) so cool!
The staff member, Brock, found me, took me through to the Jetstar check-in counter, assisted me to check in and put my bag on the conveyor things.
What service!!!
My nerves were dwindling, I felt like someone cared but in a ‘happy to assist’ way, not a “poor you” way.
The Jetstar lady gave me a seat in row 2 to make it easier for me on the plane. So thoughtful :) I actually was so impressed!
Brock then walked me through to security and the security lady was also great by asking if I needed assistance. It was so seamless!
The staff not only supported me today, they gave me confidence to go back through the airport a second time. What a win!
Being able to do the Virtual Tour beforehand was also really useful in know what to expect.
I used it again once inside to help me find the bathrooms.
Cérge is a world first, I used it before, during and after I checked in today. Cérge helped me in a multitude of ways, before I arrived to prepare, physically at the venue and then to refresh my memory when I needed the bathroom.
If I could travel with this much peace of mind and this low level of anxiety and high level of inclusion I would travel far more often and more!
Hats off to Sunshine Coast Airport for being leaders in Access and Inclusion.