Surfers & British Airways
HOWLERMONKEY Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 08:26:19 AM GMT 
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British Airways (BA) has announced a ban on carrying surfboards on all flights (effective from 6th Nov), the surf community across the world has been reacting to the shock new position and taking decisive action to push for a reversal on the decision , surfers from across the globe, including the World Number One, Mick Fanning, have been signing up to a global petition created by the British Surfing Association (BSA) and international governing bodies, key surf brands and thousands of individuals have been issuing statements and joining a group on the social networking site, Facebook.
Here in Cornwall surfing is a billion-pound industry thousands of surfers will be using Newquey airport to transit through to the surf beaches available to the professional and weekender. There will undoubtedly be a knock-on to the local economy with an estimated 500,000 people in Britain who surf 
BA has had a reputation for being one of the most surfer friendly airlines but last weekend their new ruling stated that surfboards, alongside other items such as hang gliders, windsurfing boards and sails, kayaks or canoes, pole vaults or javelins, will no longer be accepted as baggage on any flights on the extensive BA network. BA blamed the "large size and handling complexities" of such equipment but surfers pointed out that golf clubs, snowboards, skis, bicycles and fishing rods are not banned. Many surfboards weigh less than 4kg. Until now BA has had a reputation for being one of the most surfer friendly airlines but last weekend their new ruling stated that surfboards, alongside other items such as hang gliders, windsurfing boards and sails, kayaks or canoes, pole vaults or javelins, will no longer be accepted as baggage on any flights on the extensive BA network At the same time, BA proudly announced that it would be loosening any restrictions on their carriage of skis, snowboards, cycles, diving equipment and even guns, amongst other items (So I can take my shot guns up to Scotland when I go grouse-shooting). At the recent Ski and Snowboard Show in London, BA was advertising its allegiance to snow sports and pushing its free carriage of snow related equipment on all flights. (I am also wondering what their position is on my croquet set) The announcement and subsequent statements have caused uproar amongst surfers who see the new decision as a marginalisation of the sport and of all those within the global surf community. The UK has over 500,000 regular surfers and nations such as South Africa, France, Australia and the USA have a much larger surf scene The BSA is continuing to urge everyone who surfs to take five minutes to go online and follow their recommended action steps. The BSA is planning to deliver the petition to the management of BA in person next week, alongside the supportive statements from other organisations.
Things to do..
1) Go onto www.britsurf.co.uk and click the ‘SIGN ONLINE PETITION OF PROTEST IN THE NEWS SECTION ON THE HOME PAGE’.
2) If you have a Facebook account, join the Facebook ‘British Airways Surfboard Ban’ group
3) Click this link http://www.britishairways.com/travel/custrelform/public/en_gb and register a complaint with BA directly
4) Encourage other bloggers to follow these steps
Things to do..
1) Go onto www.britsurf.co.uk and click the ‘SIGN ONLINE PETITION OF PROTEST IN THE NEWS SECTION ON THE HOME PAGE’.
2) If you have a Facebook account, join the Facebook ‘British Airways Surfboard Ban’ group
3) Click this link http://www.britishairways.com/travel/custrelform/public/en_gb and register a complaint with BA directly
4) Encourage other bloggers to follow these steps
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