V-Flyer

link One item allowed now.

Excellent news - thanks for that Dave [y][y]

Cheers

Michael

[oo][oo]

Great news that a proper, sustainable policy has been put in place.

Good luck to all the VS people on here, best wishes for as near as normal a Monday as you can manage.

Cheers!
Mike

Good news. I wonder why there is such a small size restriction. 45x35x16 would preclude most wheel-ons. Not sure I can see the security benefits of this. Important to note that liquids are still banned.

I'm very glad to see this has happened - but I didn't see it could have been sustainable. Yesterday morning, on BBBC1 (I think) they were interviewing the director of BAA - his comments were that BAA have contingency plans and that they were in operation. Yeah, I laughed too. He also said that the policy would conintue (hand luggage) for as long as the government wanted/needed to implement it and that BAA would always fully comply. Yes, he was VERY vociferant - which is why I'm not remotely surprised to find that, today, things have changed!

I guess that, if you can now take laptops - you can also take ipods and keys? I don't know, what mess - you couldn't write it, could you?! [B)]

Common sense has prevailed. Hoorah.

VS and BA websites still indicating no hand luggage though.

Good news and I hope all the hard working people at BAA and VS and the other airlines have some respite.

I still don't see this as sustainable though and further relaxation in terms of size and number of bags will have to happen. Then there's the whole issue about duty free ... though I wonder is liquids will ever be allowed back on unless sealed in DF bags ...

I just heard on the news that still no hand luggage ex Heathrow/Gatwick & Stanstead though, so not really sorted for the VS pax yet[n]

Neil:)

From 04:30 on 15 August (tomorrow) pax at LHR can take one small cabin bag.

BC

Still a mess though isnt - different airports doing different things!!

Hopefully with the downgrade of the alert to severe we will get a common policy and maybe BAA can stop forcing airlines to cancel flights!!

Originally posted by BlackCat
From 04:30 on 15 August (tomorrow) pax at LHR can take one small cabin bag.

BC

Strange reason I heard BAA giving for not relaxing requirements immediately. Apperently as it was announced overnight they need time to brief their staff. They seemed to manage OK when the original restrictions were brought in overnight.

Phil FM

Originally posted by FamilyMan
Strange reason I heard BAA giving for not relaxing requirements immediately. Apperently as it was announced overnight they need time to brief their staff. They seemed to manage OK when the original restrictions were brought in overnight.

I'm guessing that there will be additional briefings required for the screeners about how to implement the new policy.

It does seem like there is a lack of joined up thinking somewhere along the line though, as it would be reasonable to expect the current "no liquids" ban, and could have briefed based on that much sooner.

Mike

I just want to take my Ipod, Digital Camera, Moby and my new Mont Blanc.

Won't be allowed to take my Prada pilot case now though, thats going to be a few hundred quids worth of leather staying in the wardrobe.

Next time I buy fragrance I will have to ask for a bag full of mini spray Cartier testers so I can smell respectable and then throw them away.

What I didn't realise is that this seems to be pretty much the permanent postion moving forward. Taken from BBC.com :

Long-term changes to airport security checks outlined by Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander include the following:

Passengers can choose what to take on to a plane, but any form of liquid, fluid, lotion or gel will be banned. Electronic devices, such as laptops, will be permitted but will be thoroughly screened.

A medium-sized item of hand luggage will be permitted. This bag will be around half the size of luggage previously admitted.

Searches of passengers and their clothing will be conducted more frequently and are to be carried out by hand or using body scanners.

source

While I didn't expect a return to a 'free for all' I must admit to some surprise and disapointment on the size.

Originally posted by sailor99

While I didn't expect a return to a 'free for all' I must admit to some surprise and disapointment on the size.

Im with you on this - what difference does the size of hand luggage make - surely its the contents that matter?

My parachute rig's still out then... [n]

BAA are still advising no Hand baggage today at LHR... only clear plastic bags.

Which is completely at odds with the DfT link Jetwet posted at the start of this thread.

Will BAA ever get themselves sorted out - they really do appear to making a complete hashbrown of all this!!

OMG! I cant believe you lot.
Smaller Hand Baggage so that each bag can be hand searched. What the hell do you need a massive wheelie carry on as big as your suitcase in the cabin for anyway. I think this is a brilliant move. Hurrah no more idiots trying to stow stupid amounts of had luggage.
Of course this directive isn't going to happen for 24 - 48 hours think of all the logistics!

Have to say that I always travel light when on business - just my PC backback with a few extras crammed in.

Travelling with the family will be interesting though.

Phil FM

Originally posted by Monkey
What the hell do you need a massive wheelie carry on as big as your suitcase in the cabin for anyway.

Because if you are transiting in US you cannot usually check your luggage through to the final desination. This means you need to collect it in, say, JFK. Then you have to pass customs, get yourself to the new terminal, re-check in, etc, etc. So if your transit is 3 hours or less you will likely miss. If you are at all delayed on your inwards you are completely stuffed.

Then there is the issue of pax transiting in the UK. They will arrive at say CDG, with normal hand luggage, only to have to check it as there is a UK transit. Confusion all round I would expect. Of course no every departure point will pick it up, so then transit desks will have to be handling checking of hand luggage.........

If there was a good well thought through reason presented for this policy then fine. But there is no reason given, what so ever. So why is the UK adopting a policy at odds with the Rest of the World?

BTW, we are not talking massive, we are talking the standard size which is the result of reductions in carry on sizes over the years.

I don't understand how the bag size makes a difference. WHen I am on my own I travel lightly, but as FamilyMan says, I took my 3 & 5yr old neices away last year and need a lot more hand luggage, so it is really going to affect family travel.

As others have said, surely its the content of the bag that is the most important.

Originally posted by Monkey
OMG! I cant believe you lot.
Smaller Hand Baggage so that each bag can be hand searched. What the hell do you need a massive wheelie carry on as big as your suitcase in the cabin for anyway. I think this is a brilliant move. Hurrah no more idiots trying to stow stupid amounts of had luggage.

Just to be clear, Monkey (and in a slightly more objective way) - the "new" cabin baggage restrictions are a significant reduction on the current guidelines that were already reduced as of last month.

A lot of people were stung by the reduction in the first place, this latest one puts a lot of reasonably sized bags off-limits.