Earlier this month I took a picture of my 8-year old son in Gatwick airport. Suddenly a security official came bounding over and demanded to see the photo.

“Why?” I politely asked.

“It’s illegal to take photos here and I have the power to confiscate your camera. I will do so unless you show me the photos and delete any taken inside the terminal building,” he threateningly informed me.

He then watched as I deleted a picture of my son sitting in an armchair with his thumbs up and smiling broadly at the prospect of our ski trip to Zermatt together.

Max didn’t look like much of a threat to aviation security to me.

It felt more like Stalinist Russia than Britain in 2008 and seemed to sum up how much the experience of flying has deteriorated over the years.

Each time I fly I hate it more and more.

Prior to being suspected of being a potential terrorist we’d been required to turn up 2 hours before the plane actually took off.  The check in process seems to be devoid of people now and we had to use a machine to get a boarding pass.

As I didn’t have the same credit card with me that I had used to book the flight the machine didn’t work anyway so I had to go and stand in another queue.

We then checked in our 2 bags (each weighing no more than 20kg) and then went through security passing an exhibit of “confiscated items".

Bottles of shampoo, make-up, water and even a threatening looking tube of lipsyl.  Once our bags were screened we then had to take our shoes off and have them looked at too.

If you stop and think about it it’s all rather bizarre really.

Now I’m all for being properly checked by security but let’s face it air travel is not glamorous.

Once in the departures area there are no windows, just row upon row of shops.

Airports are more like Shopping Malls than anything else as the operators try to squeeze as much money out of us as possible and sell us things we really don’t need or want.

I paused for a moment and thought how ridiculous it is to be offered much of what was on offer when I was simply flying to Geneva.

 A book/newspaper, yes.  Some toiletries, yes.  But a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes.  There was even a Ferrari in the departure area that I was told I had a chance of winning if I handed over more money.

And the de-humanising absurdness of it all doesn’t stop when you get on the plane either.

I placed my small hand luggage under the seat in front of me so I could get access to a book during the flight. Just before we took off an air steward said I had to move it slightly to the right as it was sticking out.

Half an hour later the same man was trying to sell me aftershave.

Why an earth people want to buy aftershave at 29,000 feet I have no idea.

On this particular flight the plane was only about half full so it wasn’t too cramped, but I often fly with the budget airlines and they are packed to the gunnels.  The cost of airline travel may well have come down over recent years but the whole experience is degrading, depressing and downright dreadful.

There are some exceptions – London City airport is one and many of the smaller regional airports – but generally air travel is an unnecessary ordeal to be endured. 

Then of course there is the building itself.

How come in the 19th century railway stations produced some of the greatest architecture of the century and yet their 21st equivalent, the airport, is so soul-less and depressing? 

Compare St Pancras railway station to Heathrow Airport.

I suppose it is all about money but for me, flying has changed hugely over the last few years and no one seems to have noticed let alone moaned about it.

If anyone wants to start a campaign to try to change the nature of flying just let me know.

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