When we first read it we thought it was a holiday joke, no it is serious. In one more victory of “The Markets” over common sense, airlines have been cleared by America’s aviation regulators to use twin-jet aircraft (notably the Boeing 777 and 787) over the North Pole, supposedly saving fuel costs and the environment and allowing non-stop flights from Europe to Pacific destinations such as Fiji or Hawaii. It is easy to comprehend the joy of the airlines and of the aircraft manufacturer oligopoly, but what about the effects on passenger and crew safety: there increased ultraviolet radiation in the polar regions, not to mention how many will survive an emergency landing even if it is successful. And how would frequent crossing of the poles impact on the already decreased ozone concentration in the Arctic, which by the way also suffers from radioactive contamination from the tests of the 1960s and 1970s.