From your Editors desk...
 "Have a blast!" is a phrase sometimes uttered by youngish people wishing others a great time. We all know what is meant, yet it took on a sinister overtone when it was received recently as an anonymous message on a cell phone.
The recipient was on an Air France flight preparing to depart
from Beirut to Paris and the young woman in question became
afraid her boyfriend might have put a bomb in her luggage to
keep her from leaving him behind.
As the plane was taxiing to the runway, the woman
alerted a flight attendant and told of her concern. So the pilot
took the aircraft back to the gate where the woman was required
to leave the plane and her luggage was searched. The flight
was delayed for three hours. The news report telling of this
incident ended with the sentence: "Just another reason for banning
cell phones on aircraft?"
YET
and, yes, it's a big 'yet'
the European Union regulators have opened the way for air travellers
to use their cell phones on flights throughout the continent,
declaring that its "new regulations will set a Europe-wide standard
by which passengers can safely use their mobile phones to talk,
text or send e-mails on aircraft." Airlines will be able to
launch onboard mobile services later this year, but it is not
yet clear whether airlines will turn off the service once they
leave European airspace, although when a flight enters international
airspace, it is governed by the rules of the country where the
airline is registered. (Cell phone use has not been approved
for North American flights.) Apparently, due to new technology,
safety is "no longer an issue". But etiquette certainly may
be, and the EU is "recommending that airlines draft etiquette
guidelines
to avoid in-flight flare-ups between closely confined
passengers."
For a very funny article on this (and other) flying
issues posted on the BBC website, enter <'I'm on the plane
the PLANE' by Clive James> in Google. Funny, but also alarming.
James also mentioned the recent Heathrow Terminal 5 problems
if you're due to be using their terminal it would seem that
carry-on-only luggage is a good idea, at least for a while.
Bon voyage!
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