Camels in Australian airports

They are the bane of the international traveller, with their unhappy knack of sending luggage to the wrong destination or else returning it to the carousel beaten, bent or bust.
But an Australian baggage handler has capped all that by opening a passenger's bag, donning a 10ft-long camel costume he found inside and frolicking on the tarmac to the bewilderment of passengers.
Twenty minutes after he checked his bag in at Sydney airport David Cox watched in disbelief as a figure in his costume appeared outside the boarding gate.
The 34-year-old marketing executive was off to Melbourne for a football game where Alice the camel was to feature in the half-time entertainment.
Mr Cox said he was sitting beside a floor-to-ceiling window at the terminal when a child said: "There's a guy with a moose head." When he looked up he was astonished to see Alice the camel behind the wheel of a baggage cart, zipping back and forth between the terminal and the plane.
"I was flabbergasted. My jaw dropped to the ground," Mr Cox said. "And it wasn't just the one run; it must have gone around a couple of times."
The security lapse is now the subject of a full inquiry by an internal investigations team at Qantas, which is already under fire amid allegations of baggage handlers removing passengers' belongings or inserting items into their luggage.
Alleged Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby, who faces possible death by firing squad in Indonesia after being caught with 4.1kg of cannabis in her luggage, has claimed airline baggage handlers in Brisbane planted the drugs.
Mr Cox said that Qantas had dealt with the camel incident promptly, but it raised concerns about airport security.
"It's the kind of larrikin thing that an Australian would do," he said. "But given the current situation, particularly with Schapelle Corby, and the issues of airport security and privacy, and your luggage remaining secure, it's obviously a poor decision."
Geoff Dixon, the chief executive of Qantas, said the handler was identified on closed-circuit television and faced disciplinary action that would probably see him dismissed.
An embarrassed Qantas reimbursed Mr Cox for dry cleaning costs, and has made sure Alice the camel arrived in Melbourne in time for today's match.
But an Australian baggage handler has capped all that by opening a passenger's bag, donning a 10ft-long camel costume he found inside and frolicking on the tarmac to the bewilderment of passengers.
Twenty minutes after he checked his bag in at Sydney airport David Cox watched in disbelief as a figure in his costume appeared outside the boarding gate.
The 34-year-old marketing executive was off to Melbourne for a football game where Alice the camel was to feature in the half-time entertainment.
Mr Cox said he was sitting beside a floor-to-ceiling window at the terminal when a child said: "There's a guy with a moose head." When he looked up he was astonished to see Alice the camel behind the wheel of a baggage cart, zipping back and forth between the terminal and the plane.
"I was flabbergasted. My jaw dropped to the ground," Mr Cox said. "And it wasn't just the one run; it must have gone around a couple of times."
The security lapse is now the subject of a full inquiry by an internal investigations team at Qantas, which is already under fire amid allegations of baggage handlers removing passengers' belongings or inserting items into their luggage.
Alleged Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby, who faces possible death by firing squad in Indonesia after being caught with 4.1kg of cannabis in her luggage, has claimed airline baggage handlers in Brisbane planted the drugs.
Mr Cox said that Qantas had dealt with the camel incident promptly, but it raised concerns about airport security.
"It's the kind of larrikin thing that an Australian would do," he said. "But given the current situation, particularly with Schapelle Corby, and the issues of airport security and privacy, and your luggage remaining secure, it's obviously a poor decision."
Geoff Dixon, the chief executive of Qantas, said the handler was identified on closed-circuit television and faced disciplinary action that would probably see him dismissed.
An embarrassed Qantas reimbursed Mr Cox for dry cleaning costs, and has made sure Alice the camel arrived in Melbourne in time for today's match.