British Airways' very own sleep doctor has invented a 'cure' for jet-lag.

It could spell an end to the misery of red-eyes and tiredness to thousands of passengers who can take advantage of the airline's new online jet lag advisor tool.

When we travel across time zones we can often suffer from the dreaded jet lag. Jet lag occurs when the natural body clock is disrupted by crossing a number of time zones. The symptoms can include fatigue, disorientation and an inability to sleep. Whilst relatively harmless, jet lag can ruin the first few days of your trip, and is equally problematic whether travelling for business or pleasure.

Dr Chris Idzikowski - hired by the airline last year with a brief to make BA the industry leader in sleeping at 35,000 ft - has devised a simple formula to banish the bed-time insomnia that so many people suffer after flying across time zones.

He said the body clock is affected by four main factors: light, sleep, exercise and food.

To work our how best to control the effects of jet-lag, either at the beginning or end of a journey, passengers simply need to fill out a short questionnaire which can be found at ba.com/jetlag.

It asks for information such as your normal wake-up time and the local time at your location and at your destination.

The advisor then makes a calculation of the best times you should expose yourself to light and darkness, as well as the best times to eat and exercise.

The key to beating jet lag, according to Dr Idzikowski, is about when you should and shouldn't expose yourself to light and dark.

he said: "the most important thing to bear in mind when avoiding light is that the room must be pitch black, donning an eye mask can be the best solution.

"For times when you need to expose yourself to light the best option is a natural source, such as the sun". However, new research suggests that artificial light such as a reading lamp or even street lighting might help. "If these light and dark rules are obeyed there is no real reason why anyone should suffer from jetlag."

Dr Idzikowski is one of the UK's leading authorities on sleep and is based at the Edinburgh Sleep Centre.

British Airways Jet Lag Advisor

My Personal Jet Lag Solution

As a regular traveller myself, my approach depends on whether I arrive before 6pm local time or after 6pm local time.

If I arrive before 6pm local time then I tend to sleep 4 solid hours upon arrival at my destination in a dark room donning an eye mask, setting my alarm to wake me up after the 4 hours. I would then rise and have a shower, do my usual routine and go to bed as if at home.

If I arrive after 6pm local time then I stay up for the next two hours by freshening myself up, and having a light meal - preferrably a nice bowl of soup, a salad and a glass of red.

As a habit, I make sure I hydrate myself with water wherever I am.

I hope you find this blog helpful.

Take care and God Bless!

Alan Aldana

Are you travelling to the US for Business or Pleasure?

US-bound passengers have been urged to fill in thier immigration details before coming to the airport or risk delays.

The new advanced passenger information (API), to be introduced for all airlines, has been brought in to bolster security and will require all passengers to provide some additional information on top of the data found in their passport.

All passengers are now required to provide their county of residence and all non-US residents must also provide an address for where they are staying on their first night.

The relevance information can be given to the Airlines they are flying with before paasengers come to the airport either via the airline's website or their travel agent.

Letters have been sent to all major travel agencies in the UK two weeks ago asking for support in gathering this extra data at time of booking wherever possible.

Some airlines are currently carrying out trials on how best to collect and then input the extra data from any passengers who have not passed on the information before coming to the airport.

Airlines staff and employees who are flying to the US on duty travel or concessions must also fill in their API details before arriving at the airport. Failure to do so may mean they will not be able to board a flight as planned.