Bah, humbug as airline bans festive 'crack'

[banana head]

From todays Irish Independent:

Bah, humbug as airline bans festive 'crack'

THE festive season will go without a bang for airline travellers this year as they will no longer be allowed to take Christmas crackers on flights.

The humble cracker joins a list of prohibited items including firearms, explosives, paints and glue that are banned from hold and cabin baggage on low-cost Ryanair flights.

And busy Stansted airport in England has also put a gag on the festive novelties by slapping a blanket ban on passengers carrying crackers in their hand luggage.

Airport spokesman Robert Barrigan said they were not adopting a "bah, humbug" approach and had imposed the ban for safety reasons.

But Aer Lingus said it was not a "party pooper", and said that provided boxes of crackers were not being transported for commercial use, passengers could bring them on board.

The Irish Aviation Authority said it did not classify crackers as dangerous goods and it was up to airline to decide their own policy.

The restriction could hit hard large numbers of Irish visitors with reports that they had been stocking up on crackers in Britain as they are far cheaper there than in Ireland.

Ryanair confirmed it would not permit them to be carried onboard.

Fergus Black

[niknak]

I can't see any self respecting hijacker using a christmas cracker as a tool of the trade, but have you ever seen the crap which comes out of the average cracker?

I can sympathise if it's the cabin crews who have asked for them not to be allowed in the aircraft cabin, as on low cost carriers it's them who clean the aircraft during turnrounds.

[Chutney]

..... aaah, but the posh ones sometimes have nail clippers in them - I'm told.

Pip Pip!

[Runway 31]

When I was flying out of Hahn a fortnight ago all the desks had notices informing that crackers were banned.

[Farrell]

My little cousin wants to take his GI Joe onto the plane for his holidays.

He's (the doll, not my cousin!) got a bowie knife, a belt full of grenades and because he's the 'SCUBA Joe' version, he's also packing a very serious looking harpoon!

I'm not sure he'll be allowed on.

[hobie]

I must be getting old but where do they find all these "Customers" who's greatest wish in life is to
pull a Christmas cracker on board a Passenger Jet? :confused:

Maybe when the A380 gets into service, Airlines can provide special Cabins dedicated to passengers who wish to pull Crackers throughout their Journey :ugh:

[Flightrider]

Most airlines will carry crackers if they are commercially manufactured and remain in their original packing.

Working on the ground, we ran into an incident (a few years ago now) where a woman just could not understand why we would not allow her to carry her home-made crackers, complete with flashes, in her baggage. We had to explain that crackers have small amouts of explosive in them to make them go "bang" and even then, she continued to argue.

Given that incidents have occured from baggage hold fires in the past (notably Valujet), the potential for incidents should not be made light of.

Whilst I think that the Ryanair policy is probably a little bit too draconian, it's better to play safe and I don't think they (or any other carrier) should be criticised for it.

[RUDAS]

FLIGHTRIDER,please,listen to yourself! theyre christmas crackers,not semtex! so,in the interests of 'safety',should toffees be banned on board?(you could choke,you know).Should people who do judo & karate be banned (they may give someone a karate chop).Where on earth will this all end? Its :mad: madness

[surely not]

Rudas please listen to yourself! Crackers are a danger in the same way that you shouldn't leave your car lights on when refuelling, you shouldn't use a mobile phone when at a petrol station. The chance of an incident is low, but the result of an incident could be catastrophic, and then all the hind sight merchants would be wagging their fingers as to how this could be allowed to happen.

Looking at it from another direction, why do people find it necessary to carry them with them anyway? They are readily available in most countries, so why not buy them when they arrive down route?

RUDAS if something creates a spark or flame, it can ignite other objects that are far more dangerous or combustible and that is why they are controlled.

[ZFT]

surely not

But that’s the problem, they are not readily available everywhere. I can’t buy them here in BKK and now due to current rules and regs I can’t transport them here. In past years we could bring them in carry on baggage. (Obviously it makes sense not to put anything flammable in checked in baggage).

Crackers are no more of a danger than matches, lighters etc..and they aren’t banned from carry on baggage YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[eal401]

Crackers are a danger in the same way that you shouldn't leave your car lights on when refuelling,
Really? I must look for the "switch your lights off" sign at a petrol station!! Done that many, many times as have many other people! I assume switching lights off and then on again is much safer than being continuously lit?

[surely not]

Not sure of the logic eal401, but I have been reprimanded on a couple of occassions by service station staff, and they certainly had the signage to back up their 'requests'.

There was a fuel manager at Stansted who tried to convince everyone that his drivers would stop working on a/c if the despatchers and crews continued to use their mobile phones within 50 feet of the a/c whilst refuelling was being carried out. He was quite taken aback by the response he got ;)