Parties push to ban use of lasers in the vicinity of airports

TOP 09 and Public Affairs are seeking an amendment to the law which would see the use of lasers banned in the vicinity of all Czech airports. The proposed amendment, which is yet to be discussed by the lower house, envisages a five million crown fine for breaking the ban in a given security zone around airports. The proposal comes in the wake of numerous complaints from pilots who say that lasers blind them and endanger passenger safety during take-offs and landings. Civic Democrat MP Zdeněk Lhota, who drafted the proposed amendment, says there have been at least eight such incidents in the vicinity of Prague Airport in the past year.