At the Airport

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Travelling by air is the fastest means of travelling. Passengers are to arrive at the airport two hours before departure time on international flights and an hour before on domestic flights as there must be enough time to complete the necessary airport formalities. For this purpose the passenger must register their tickets and luggage.

As a rule personal belongings may be brought in duty-free. If the traveller has nothing to declare he may just go through the “green” section (channel) of the Customs. In some cases the Customs inspector may ask the passenger to open the bags for inspection. It sometimes happens that a luggage is carefully gone through to prevent smuggling.

The rules for passengers who are going abroad are similar in most countries but sometimes there might be a slight difference in formalities.

If, for instance, the traveller begins with going through the Customs, he’d better fill in the Customs declaration before talking to the Customs officer.

An experienced Customs officer usually smells a smuggler, but he may ask routine questions, for instance, “Have you got anything to declare?” or “Any spirits, tobacco, presents?” The usual answers would be, “Yes, I’ve got some valuables (ценные вещи, ценности), but I’ve put them all down in the declaration”, or “I’ve got two blocks of cigarettes for my own use” or something of that kind.

Then he goes to the check-in counter where his ticket is looked at, the things are weighed and labelled, a claim-check for each piece of luggage is inserted in the ticket and the passenger is given a boarding pass, which has a seat number on it. Of course, if the luggage weighs more than twenty kilos, extra (багаж сверх нормы) is to be paid.

The next formality is filling in the declaration form and going through passport control. The traveller writes his name, nationality, permanent address (адрес постоянного места жительства) and the purpose of the trip (цель поездки). In most countries there is also a security check (проверка безопасности) when the carry-on luggage is inspected. This is an anti-hijacking measure, and anything that might be dangerous or disturbing to other passengers must be handed to one of the crew and only returned to the owner after the plane has reached its destination.

After fulfiling all these formalities passengers go to the departure lounge where they can have a snack, read a paper, buy something in the duty-free shop and wait for the announcement (объявление о посадке) to board the plane.

At the airport passengers may be met by a specially trained dog (собака, натренированная на обнаружение наркотиков, взрывчатки) that will make sure that they are not carrying drugs.

There is another inconvenience (неудобство) the person has to be prepared for when travelling long distances by plane. It’s the jet lag[3], a difference between the time people are accustomed to and the new time. At first travellers won’t be feeling very well because of it, but it won’t take them long to get used to it.

Exercise 9. Agree or disagree with the following:

1. Passengers are to arrive at the airport two hours before departure.

2. Personal belongings may not be brought in duty-free.

3. The Customs inspector never asks the passenger to open his bags for inspection.

4. There are slight differences in Customs formalities of different countries.

5. The passenger weighs and labels his things himself.

6. Security check is carried out for anti-hijacking measures.

Exercise 10. Complete the table using the list of passengers’ rights and obligations during the travel.

Passenger has the right	Passenger is obliged	It is forbidden for the passenger
To receive carriage services according to the fare	To keep the travel ticket until the end of the journey	To disturb the driver

to travel on a coach under alcoholic intoxication; to be in dirty clothes; to smoke or disturb other passengers; to open or close windows or hatches without the driver’s permission; to ensure that his/her hand luggage or any other item does not endanger other passengers; in case of absence of a travel ticket to buy one from a coach driver; to keep the travel ticket until the end of the journey; to receive carriage services according to the fare; to carry luggage in accordance with existing order; passenger with sight impairment has the right to carry his/her guiding dog; to possess a travel ticket or another document proving his right to travel and present it to the driver when entering the coach; to present the travel ticket to any official having the right for inspection upon his request; to prevent the doors from opening or closing and to cover the driver’s view; to disturb the driver or hinder work of an official having the right for inspection; to break, to damage or stain the coach and its interior; to endanger himself or other passengers; to violate other requirements set by the Rules; to have free luggage allowance; to pay for the excess luggage; to have any prohibited or restricted goods; to cooperate with the Customs officer.

Exercise 11. Read the text and say what the term “air rage” stands for.

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Дата добавления: 2015-03-29