Football as luggage
 

Apologies for such a stupid question, but is it ok for me to place a football (pumped up) into my suitcase to go into the hold of the aircraft, or should it go on as "hand luggage"?

Dunno what the rules are now, but a few years back the security blokes at Grand Cayman airport made me deflate our football when we took it onboard in our carry on. Funnily, the security types in the US didn't have a problem on our flight to Cayman........we need global standards

Ozzy

Yes it will be ok, most carriers will mention on their web sites in their Help/FAQ sections about footballs. They can be carried and do not need deflating.

Look at it this way, does Jordan need her boobs reducing before she gets on a flight? :p

Bike tyres have to be deflated - I know they are higher pressure than a football, but cannot see a logical reason for it. I think that a lot of rules have no basis in fact.

The one that bugs me is that you cannot take CO2 cylinders for re-inflation.

Best not to have it too inflated however, you dont want to damage your ball!

But then maybe she takes them in the cabin with her and doesn't ship them in the hold (unless she has a spare pair in her luggage).

Just a thought: why not leave your football at home and give yourself some extra space in your luggage, buy a football when you reach your destination, when your holiday is finished (I assume you are going on holiday) give the football to some local kids.:O

Now, had you have said, luggage as footballs: having watched Malaga's finest loading an aircraft not that long ago.

I do believe if you put the pump needle into the ball inflation valve without the pump screwed in it lets the air out. A deflated football and a pump would take up less volume and you wouldn't have to worry about it being whipped out by over zealous security types.

Quick summary - applies to most airlines :-

In the cabin - DEflated

In the hold - INflated

The reason I believe is in the case of a depressurisation, the ball would explode in the cabin and the loud bang it created could be even more distressing to people who will already be distressed.

In the hold however it doesn't matter as nobody would hear it.

If you want to see the visual effects of air pressure, try this next time you are on a flight :-

Take a small plastic bottle and open it up at cruise altitude, drink the contents and then re-seal the bottle tightly and do not touch it again until you have landed. Then have a look at the bottle.

It's also a good way to show kids about pressurisation too.

(although it doesn't work too well into high altitude airports such as JNB)

:}