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| | Guardian | Charter flights under the microscope |
 | | A number of former passengers of the airline emerged to talk of the planes' "shocking" state of repair, of missing oxygen masks, torn seats, dirty and smelly interiors and broken luggage compartments. |
 | | Statistically, experts say, the increased risk of taking a charter flight over a scheduled one is marginal and due not so much to technical as to human problems, such as overworked staff flying constantly changing, unfamiliar routes and landing in smaller, less well-known airports. |
 | | Most European charter companies use planes at least as modern as those used by national airlines, are bound by the same maintenance regulations, and subcontract their maintenance work to a major carrier like Air France, KLM or British airways, experts say. |
| www.guardian.co.uk /print/0,3858,4832173-105806,00.html (810 words) |
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