All entries for Monday 06 August 2007

there's weird and then there's wrong

On my latest trip from Heathrow to Beijing I had to find out about a few freshly made rules to air travel that to this day I can’t make sense of.

1. The 100ml rule: The total amount of liquids in the passenger’s hand luggage should not exceed 100ml. I’m led to believe it has something to do with fear of liquid explosives and apparently this rule has been introduced all over the world. The weird thing is, they don’t judge by the amount of liquid, but by the capacity of the container that holds the liquid. So, if you have less than half a bottle left in a 200ml bottle of anything, it will be binned.

2. The one bag rule: Only one piece of hand luggage allowed per passenger. Totally confusing for a girl like me who likes to keep her laptop in one bag and the rest of the handy stuff in a different one.

3. The most disturbing rule: No passport check or customs on exit from the UK. This means anyone who came into the country with an entry clearance is essentially given the opportunity to stay indefinitely. Even if you exceed the number of days stated on your visa (which is usually 6 months) no one will ever find out, because there’s no-one to check if the visitor has left the country in time. And this is happening amidst all those talks of tightening security and greater immigration control.

: 06 Aug 2007 15:44 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem