British authorities revise list of banned items onboard aircraft

Airline Industry Information, April 5, 2005

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

The British government is set to relax the rules on sharp objects onboard aircraft later this month.

The anti-terrorism rules, introduced after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, banned sharp objects. This included metal cutlery used for in-flight meals. The relaxed rules, however, will see the return of metal cutlery, according to Reuters.

A spokesman for the British transport department has said that the list of things that can be brought onboard has been revised to reflect the additional safety measures for aircraft, such as stronger cockpit doors that are locked at all times. The revised list will reportedly allow travellers to once again bring knitting needles and scissors with blades shorter than 3 centimetres onboard from 25 April.

((Comments on this story may be sent to aii.feedback@m2.com))