Word.

New airline wants to give smokers their lighters back

'Düsseldorf, Germany - At the international airport in this western German city, smokers are restricted to a handful of bars in the terminal, or else stuck puffing on the dingy street outside.

Soon, however, tobacco lovers from around the world could be beating a path to Düsseldorf. A startup airline based here plans to offer long-haul luxury flights that cater to smokers, countering a decades-long global trend that has made it impossible to enjoy a cigarette on most passenger flights.

The founder of Smoker's International Airways - Smintair for short - is a local entrepreneur who promises a return to the days when air travel was considered glamorous, stewardesses were happy to bring you a glass of scotch, and smoking in the lavatory didn't risk criminal prosecution.

"Other airlines have lost every kind of sympathy for their passengers by leaps and bounds. They treat them like cattle," former stockbroker Alexander Schoppmann said. "What all of those carriers want these days is for you to stay in the seat, and you better bloody well stay there, and don't even ask for anything to eat or drink. You can't do anything."'