Restrictions on carry-on luggage

Mainstream media has been awashed with the latest updates from airlines and airports taking action to start screening /banning liquids, gels and aerosols that are taken onboard.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has issued guidelines for international practices and has urged all its participation countries to enforce a single-minded guideline that can be applied worldwide. The deadline set is 31 March 2007 and I'm waiting with bated breath as to how airlines will line up.

As it is, before we leave for a flight, we need to find out the quarantine laws of the country so we know what we can bring as gifts, the duty-free allowances so we know how much perfume, alcohol etc we can buy, if the airline allows outside food to be brought onboard (do they??) etc.

With this move, it would help a lot if we knew what we can buy at airport duty-free shops, what we should discard before boarding least we be fined upon landing and what we can bring onboard least we shrivel up from a lack of adequate skin lotion on that long distance flight!

Looking forward to comments that I'm not alone in my thoughts!