/ 8 January 2004

Singapore Airlines, SAA to ban loo queues on flights

South African Airways and Singapore Airlines said on Thursday they would comply with a controversial new US government directive banning passengers from loitering near toilets on flights to the United States.

“We shall observe this new directive, but this does not mean passengers cannot wait outside a toilet if it is occupied,” said a Singapore Airlines spokesperson.

“We shall ask passengers to cooperate by not congregating in groups near the toilets, but our crew will use their judgement and good sense in monitoring the situation in the cabin.”

Singapore Airlines’ announcement follows reports the US Transport Security Administration has ordered that passengers heading to the country can not congregate anywhere on the plane, especially around the toilets.

Australian media reports quoted national carrier Qantas as saying it will comply with the directive, although acting Prime Minister John Anderson has voiced concerns it could be impractical.

“The US Transport Security Administration is now requiring that passengers on flights to the US are not to congregate in groups in any areas of the aircraft, especially around the lavatories,” a Qantas spokesperson said, according to Australian media reports on Thursday.

“Qantas pilots are making pre-flight announcements to this effect and cabin crew are monitoring passengers during the flight.”

Anderson, who is also Australia’s transport minister, said he was surprised by the directive.

“I think this one will have to be handled with common sense and sensitivity,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Anderson as saying.

“I guess what the US authorities are looking for is any sort of suspicious congregation of people that might be in some way related to, you know, preparing for something nasty to launch an attack on a plane or something like that. But it has got to be handled the right way.

“I wouldn’t want to overreact, I’d have to say, because the reports at the moment do sound a little bit hard to handle.”

New Zealand news website nzoom.com reported Air New Zealand had confirmed it had also been asked not to let passengers on US-bound flights queue for toilets, but a decision on whether to agree or not was yet to be made.

The loo-queue ban is the latest in a series of controversial aviation security measures implemented recently by US authorities.

Most foreigners entering the US from this week are now subject to photographing and fingerprinting, while armed air marshals are also required on certain US-bound flights.

Beeld reported on Thursday that SAA had also indicated that airhostesses would search the aircraft every two hours for any suspicious packages. – AFP