British Airways bans surfboards

Popular surfing destinations like Bali may suffer if British Airways' ban on surfboards spreads. Surfing in exotic locations around the world will become a thing of the past for many surfers if a British Airways decision to ban surfboards from all flights is mimicked by other airlines, local surfers say.

British Airways has said surfboards will no longer be accepted at check-in from November 6, due to their "large size and handling complexities". The airline has instructed surfers to transport their boards using freight instead. Eugene Tan, avid surfer and editor of Aquabumps, a daily surfing newsletter read by over 20,000 surfers, said the ban was a "huge deal", especially if other airlines followed suit."Surfers are travellers," he said.

"In the '70s surfers were guys that smoked dope and hung out in their Holdens and didn't work, but nowadays they are educated, professional people and they've got money and want to travel to exotic locations. "I don't know what I'd do (if I couldn't travel with my board) - I'd have to stack boards all over the world."

The ban could hurt UK holiday makers keen on an Australian surfing holiday, he said.

"A lot of people come here, especially from the UK, to live the dream, the Home and Away dream," he said. Veteran surfer and Association of Surfing Professionals president Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew said British Airway's decision would have a severe effect on competitive surfers. "From our perspective, running global tours, it's going to affect all those surfers that use oneworld (a global airline alliance of 10 major airlines, including British Airways and Qantas)."

British surfers are likely to be most affected by their national carrier's decision.

British Surfing Association national director Karen Walton said the association was "extremely shocked". "Although every surfboard, piece of sporting equipment and musical instrument is different in shape and size, we'd find it extremely hard to believe that the average mini mal would be more difficult to handle when compared to a double bass and a full bag of golf clubs," she said. It was unreasonable to expect surfers to transport surfboards via freight , Mr Bartholomew said. "For one it's expensive," he said.

"Secondly, surfers like to arrive at a destination with their equipment. "Arriving without surfing equipment takes away from what you're going there to do ... if you don't have your surfing equipment, you're not going to become a body surfer for a few days."

Global surfing tours also had tight itineraries that made it crucial for surfers to travel with their boards at all times," he said. "For a professional surfer, I couldn't think of a bigger disturbance to their program (than waiting for boards to arrive via freight). Hiring a surfboard on location was not an option, Mr Bartholomew said. "Surfboards are very customised pieces of equipment, they're not generic," he said. This was equally true for recreational surfers, Mr Tan said. "Boards are finely made pieces of equipment now," he said. "I ride a specialised type of board, with a specialised thickness ... for me to have to ride someone else's board would kill my holiday."

The ban by British Airways also applies to hang gliders, windsurfing boards and sails, kayaks or canoes, pole vaults, javelins The airline did not immediately respond to questions about why the restrictions had been brought in. Qantas currently accepts surfboards at check-in provided they are enclosed in a surfboard bag and do not exceed 277 centimetres in length or 32 kilograms in weight, according to the company's web site."We have no plans to change our current arrangements," a Qantas spokesman said.

smh.com.au October 26, 2007