Perth's first airport bar The Orbit Inne was a place of glamour and high drama

The cocktail bar at Perth airport was once the only place in town to get a drink on a Sunday night, and locals made the most of it. When Perth airport's new domestic and international terminal opened in 1962, it included an observation deck, a pond with black swans to greet visitors to the west, and a cocktail lounge named the Orbit Inne. The Orbit Inne had a view over the Perth Airport courtyard garden. Correspondence between the company that ran the Orbit Inne, Consolidated Catering Services, airport management and the department of transport, reveals a litany of complaints and ongoing tensions about the price of food and drinks. While it is not clear exactly when the Orbit Inne closed, the files show that by the early 1980s plans were well underway for a redevelopment of the airport catering space, complete with a food hall and new bar.