Kelly refuses to lift hand luggage restrictions

[Mark Gobell]

Airlines Snubbed Over Luggage Pleas

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-13600674,00.html

Updated: 13:05, Thursday July 19, 2007

The Government has told the heads of the UK's leading airlines that it has no plans to ease strict new security rules on hand luggage.

The bosses of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and BMI - along with Heathrow and Gatwick airport operator BAA - met the new transport minister Ruth Kelly earlier.

Despite BA and Virgin pressing for the removal of restrictions that allow passengers only one piece of hand baggage each, they were told that there are currently no plans to change the regulations.

The Department of Transport later said that it wanted to work closely with the airline over the issue.

However, it said, until the airlines could show that they could maintain security while allowing passengers to carry more than one piece of luggage, the rules would remain in place.

The airlines are complaining that the security measures are causing havoc and chaos within their industry and disrupting the passengers to an unacceptable level.

They have also called on the Government to take on some of the burden of paying for the extra security measures because, they say, the risk is to the State, not the airline industry.

The change in regulations were brought in at the height of last summer after an alleged plot was discovered involving plans for an attack on an airline.

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9 days and 11 months after the hand luggage restrictions were introduced on the back of the "propaganda on an unimaginable scale" of 10.8.2006

[Ravenmoon]

Gotta remind everyone constantly that the bogeyman could attack any minute