I don't often walk around airports carrying hot drinks in take-away cups... but I've seen plenty of other people do it, and I'm sure I've seen people take them onto aircraft.

Last night I bought a coffee on my way to the gate at STN, and I had only drunk half of it when we started boarding. It was on one of those cups that you can drink out of without taking the lid off.

Nobody said anything at the gate... but when I got to the aircraft door the FA stopped me and told me it was illegal to bring hot drinks onto aircraft!

"Since when?" I said

"Always" he replied.

He then told me that he would, exceptionally, allow me to keep my drink but that I had to finish it before take-off, "for safety reasons".

Is there really a law against bringing one's own hot drinks onto aircraft - or is this just an airline regulation designed to make people buy drinks in flight?

Has anyone else come across this?