Summary In a randomised cross-over study, 72 anaesthetists (24 Senior House Officers, 24 Specialist Registrars and 24 Consultants) attempted to place a fibreoptic scope in the trachea of a manikin using three airway conduits: the Berman airway, the LMA Classic™ and the intubating laryngeal mask airway. The time for insertion of the airway conduit, delivery of two breaths and fibreoptic scope placement in the trachea was the primary endpoint. These overall times were significantly shorter (median [interquartile range]) using the LMA Classic™ (36 [28–45]) than via the intubating laryngeal mask (54 [42–79]) and the Berman airway (45 [33–80]), p