Read reaction to the ban from Times Online surf blogger Alex Wade

It used to be the surfing world’s favourite airline — but now the crowd just wanting to get stoked, amped and pumped on foreign shores think British Airways is a complete bummer.

BA is refusing to reverse a decision to ban surfboards as check-in baggage from all their flights from next month.

The ban on all surfboards — from traditional longboards to stubby shortboards weighing just 4kg which can be carried in a bag with shoulder straps — has stunned the British Surfing Association (BSA) and left many surfers around the world scrambling to make alternative travelling arrangements.

Karen Walton, national director of the BSA, said the ban was “inexplicable”. She said: “We’d find it extremely hard to believe that the average Mini Mal (surfboard) would be more difficult to handle when compared to a double bass and a full bag of golf clubs.” She added that the ban would be bad news for the growing numbers of surfers travelling to destinations around the world.

Ms Walton also said that among those who would be disappointed were the British surfing teams, who have previously chosen BA “mostly as a result of their generally fair baggage policy”.

Ms Walton continued: “We therefore feel completely let down and angered by the news that our national airline is banning surfboards rather than following some other airlines and charging a supplementary fee.” BA restarted its flights between Gatwick and Newquay, the UK’s premier surfing destination, in March after a three-year absence.

“We stumbled across the ban by chance when looking at the BA website. They have agreed to honour bookings made prior to 6th November, when the ban comes in, and have suggested that we use freight carriers,” Ms Walton told The Times.

“But I checked one of these companies out and for a weekend trip to southwest France I was told it would cost £205 each way to ship a board and would take six days to get there and six to get back.

“BA fly to an awful lot of surf-friendly destinations and their ban is going to impact upon global surf tourism. Developing countries like Sri Lanka are tapping into this market. It’s also going to affect surfers who live in places like Jersey, who are virtually dependent on BA to get on and off the island.”

BSA has started an online petition, ’Stop the BA Surfboard Ban’, which includes endorsements from the likes of Mick Fanning, ranked number one in the world surfing championships who is a BA Platinum Card holder in the airline’s Frequent Flyer scheme.

“As a World Championship Tour surfer it is the only airline I choose to fly to and from Europe,” he said in his entry. “If you do not take my surfboards I will not be able to compete in my World Tour events.” A BA spokeswoman said it was not a ban on surfboards but added:<WC> “<WC1>We are not accepting them at check-in to go in the hold. We do accept a lot of sporting equipment but we have refined the list that we accept.” The ban includes windsurfing boards and sails, hang-gliders, kayaks and canoes, vaulting poles and javelins. But golf clubs, bicycles, fishing rods and even snowboards will still be accepted.

“It won’t affect many of our passengers, we carry only two or three surfboards a day for 100,000 daily passengers,” the spokeswoman added.

Around half a million people surf in Britain and the sport is growing rapidly.