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There may be waiting lines in airports, but you can blame the line at the courthouse on air travel, too:

Threats made, now delivered: Ryanair filed suit against the British government over the security restrictions on carry-on luggage. As they had promised, the airline is suing for £3 million in lost revenue. Who will win? That’s a question for the barristers: “The Dublin-based carrier is suing under the Transport Act 2000, but government officials say the security directives are covered by the Aviation Security Act 1982.”

Separately, the New Zealand government is prosecuting Malaysian Airlines for knowingly and illegally transporting asylum seekers into the country. More than half of all asylum seekers who reach New Zealand’s shores apparently get there via Malaysian Airlines. Sounds like a slogan in the making.

Back in the United States: Remember Rima Qayyum, the woman who was held at Huntington Tri-State Airport in West Virginia after she was found to have liquids, and TSA singled her out for explosives testing? (It was a false positive, and she was released after 14 hours.) According to lawyers for the family, US Airways refused to let her on a plane the next day, despite her having been cleared by the FBI. So the family is considering suing the airline, and possibly airport security, for discrimination. (Some more detail here.)

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tags: travel | airlines | lawsuits