When it suits them, British Airways is proud to boast of its close relation ship with Iberia claiming that because it is owned by IAG it is one of the worlds largest passenger aircraft operators.
The two airlines share flights, passengers, routes and even caterers but not it seems, rules concerning passenger and aircraft safety.
Fly in an Airbus A320 operated by BA and it is considered perfectly safe to read an iPad before, during and after take off, it is perfectly safe to do so again while landing and telephone calls, using a cellular telephone, are permitted while the aircraft makes its way to the stand after arrival
Fly in an Airbus 320 operated by Iberia, a carrier owned by the same company as British Airways, and neither iPads and telephones can be used during the same times because “they are a threat to the safe navigation of the aircraft.”
Make your mind up! Are you one or two rather badly organised airlines?
Update 11th March 2014After our campaigning Iberia have today issued ad vice that
You can use your electronic devices throughout the entire flight, from taxi,
to take-off, to landing.
Devices that can be used in “Airplane Mode” include smartphones, tablets, e-readers, MP3 players and more. For safety reasons, devices without “Airplane Mode” must remain switched off for the duration of the flight.
In addition, Business and Economy passengers travelling in our new long-haul cabins will soon be able to enjoy Wi-Fi and data connection on board.
Needless to say the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing at Iberia and their Web site still contradicts this information!
The company has scheduled the transformation of our long-haul fleet so that, by the end of 2015, all of our Airbus A340-600 and A330-300 aircraft will feature new cabins with Wi-Fi and data connection.
