Following the terrorist airplane hijackings of 9/11/01, air travel restrictions were introduced with the aim of preventing similar attacks from happening again. Some new regulations were introduced immediately and others have been brought in more gradually.
At first, most everybody was in support of the restrictions, understanding that the aim was to make air travel safer for the ordinary law abiding traveler. However as the attacks fade in many people’s memories, some of the restrictions are starting to be criticized.
The rules vary from country to country and sometimes also depend on the airlines. Generally, there is a list of items that you may not carry in your hand baggage, and a shorter list that you may not pack in checked bags.
Depending on the flight, things that you can take in your checked bags but not carry onto the plane can include knives, scissors, and many other things that could possibly be used as weapons – including many household items that normally have an innocent purpose such as nail clippers or knitting needles. No use thinking you can knit on the plane to calm your nerves!
More controversial is the ban on taking any kind of liquid through security onto the plane (except for very small quantities of cosmetic and medical items). Sceptics say that many airports profit from this by selling you bottled water and other drinks at hugely inflated prices after you pass through security.
It is important to check the lists of what you can and cannot take before you do your packing. When you arrive at the airport, you will normally check your bags before you pass through security. This means that if you have accidentally left a large bottle of expensive perfume, a valuable lighter or the pen knife you had for your tenth birthday in your carry on bag, it is too late to move it into your checked luggage. It will be spotted by the x ray scanner, your bag will be searched, and you lose the item, or you do not fly.
As well as limiting what we can carry, the international authorities have introduced more demanding requirements around the question of ID. There was a time when a person could book an internal flight and if they found they couldn’t take the trip, they could sell their seat to someone else who would simply turn up and fly in their place – no ID required, just like on a train or a bus. Those days are gone and the question now is not whether you need ID, but what type of ID you need to show.
In North America and nearby countries, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative is bringing in more regulations designed to tighten up procedures around identity documents. While in the past it has been possible for a US citizen to enter the USA with just a drivers licence and birth certificate, from June 1st 2009 most people traveling into the USA by air will need a passport, even if they are coming from Canada.
Besides that, even for internal flights most airlines now require proof of identity. The specific requirements vary according to the airline and the country. Always check before flying, because they will refuse to take you on the plane if you do not have the right documents.
If you have a passport, the simplest thing is to take it along even for internal flights. Passports are always acceptable as ID and even with all the air travel restrictions that we have, it seems likely they always will be.
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