Glasgow Airport is currently closed due to a burning car being driven into the main terminal building. At the moment it is not known whether this is an isolated incident, it’s possibly connected to the alleged car bombs that were uncovered in London yesterday.
As reported by the UK Department for Transport, Spain is introducing Advance Passenger Information (API) reporting on all flights arriving from outside the Schengen area from today (19 June 2007). Basically this means that certain items of personal information including passport number and date of birth are passed to the Spanish authorities before take off, this information will usually be collected either at the check-in desk or online. The reason listed for this rule is for law enforcement policies. However, it’s so easy to avoid this information collection that this new procedure is just a total waste of time.
(via FlyerTalk - original (German))
Airport operators want relaxation of strict rules for the transport of liquids in hand luggage.
The President of the Association of German Airports (ADV), Michael Eggenschwiler, called for the EU Commission to “make security rules reasonable and understandable”. He also announced a new structure of landing fees based on emissions.
“Passengers cannot understand why they have to throw away liquids purchased at airports outside of the EU, when they see identical bottles being sold after security checks. Now that 7 months have passed since the introduction of the new rules, the EU Commission should review them to see if they brought any actual improvements in security. If there is no improvement, the EU should have the courage to abolish these rules.
At the Frankfurt airport alone, the new security measures result in up to 3 tonnes of additional garbage per day. Mr. Eggenschwiler demanded for the state to take over all security-related expenses instead of making airport operators and travelers bear the cost, just as it is the case with any other forms of transport.
(ADV also claims credit for delaying the intruduction of new hand luggage size limits for 12 months)
As a non-smoker I tend to prefer smoke free environments but I do believe that the government’s action of banning smoking in England from July is a step too far on many levels. First of all, I think that if companies want to accommodate smokers they should be allowed to, what harm does having a well ventilated smoking room cause to the non-smoker, it’s not an area that they have to venture?
I can see the smoking ban affecting travellers the most, if you’re waiting for a flight going outside for a cigarette isn’t as easy as it is in a pub, you have to leave the secure area and then face all the hassle of getting back through security (and airport security is a terrible joke these days). If you’ve just come off a 10 hour flight and waiting at the airport for your connection, a cigarette is a smokers way of relaxing. Personally my way of relaxing is getting a beer at the bar or in the lounge. Put simply, banning smoking in airports is just going to make a stressful experience even more stressful for a large number of smokers out there.
As I collect Flying Blue miles I never really considered Eurostar an option until last August, this was the time when airport security took a turn for the worse and for a short while all carryon luggage was banned from UK airports.
As I needed to travel a few days after this ban was in place I decided it was a good time to try Eurostar. Now Eurostar gets most of my business between London and Paris and sometimes Brussels too. Although London City is still not too bad, Heathrow had hit new lows once the new security regulations came into place (and it was a stressful enough experience before these rules came into force). To make things worse, Air France fly from Terminal 2 which has no security fast track for Flying Blue Elite or business class passengers. Eventually it’s planned that all SkyTeam airlines will join KLM in Terminal 4 which will improve things dramatically.