Alex Salmond banned from British Airways flight after staff failed to see funny side of his joke

Airports aren't always the best of places to showcase your sense of humour.

Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond learned this the hard way when British Airways took exception to the jokey alias that he'd used to book his flight from Heathrow to Scotland. Salmond, who admits to being a huge fan of Star Trek, booked the flights under the name of James T Kirk - the name of the Starship Enterprise's captain. While staff at Gatwick and London City airports have reportedly been aware that he uses the name regularly, those at Heathrow stopped Salmond from boarding the BA flight as the name didn't match the one on his passport. Eventually, after making what Salmond described in the Mail on Sunday as being a few "frantic phone calls", the SNP MP was allowed to board.