Oh dear, this is pedants' corner today isn't it? Of course I realise that the minimum safety equipment requirements are set by the national regulators not by the airlines. However, there is absolutely nothing to stop airlines equipping their planes with smoke hoods as well if they wish to do so.
After the loss of life on a Britsh Airtours flight at Manchester a few years ago (see
http://www.airdisaster.com/special/s...-bakt28m.shtml and
http://www.aaib.dtlr.gov.uk/formal/gbgjl/gbgjl.htm ) where over 50 people died from smoke inhalation the Air Accident Investigation Board recommended that:
"4.24 The Civil Aviation Authority should urgently give consideration to the formulation of a requirement for the provision of smokehoods/masks to afford passengers an effective level of protection during fires which produce a toxic environment within the aircraft cabin."
There was substantial lobbying from the airlines that this would simply cost too much money, and no such regulations were forthcoming.