Business travelers coming to the U.S. from the Middle East have another hurdle to deal with: a ban on laptop computers and tablets in the cabin of airliners.
At least, airliners departing from certain cities, flying for certain airlines.
On March 21, the U.S., citing “evaluated intelligence” indicating that terrorist groups are using new methods to undertake their attacks, including smuggling explosives in consumer items, banned the devices from airplane cabins.
The ban was apparently inspired by an incident last year, in which a member of the terrorist group al-Shabaab smuggled an explosive-filled laptop on a flight out of Mogadishu, Somalia. The explosion was small, but the bomb was strategically placed so it would blow a hole in the side of the cabin.
The airlines affected are Royal Jordanian Airlines, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudia, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Ethiad Airways, and Emirates. Airports affected by the ban include facilities in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi.
The devices can still be stored in the cargo hold with checked luggage.
Ironically, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration explicitly forbids laptops from being placed in checked luggage due to the hazards associated with the lithium-ion batteries that power the devices.
“FAA battery fire testing has highlighted the potential risk of a catastrophic aircraft loss due to damage resulting from a lithium battery fire or explosion,” the agency wrote in a February alert. “Current cargo fire suppression systems cannot effectively control a lithium battery fire.”
The other problem is that a lot of corporations forbid their employees from shipping work computers in checked luggage, due to concerns over theft or revelation of sensitive information stored on those computers.
This will effectively make it impossible for business travelers to fly on the airlines or fly out of the cities affected by the ban.
Some question whether the laptop ban is due to legitimate security concerns or business concerns. After all, U.S. carriers American, Delta, and United are not affected by the ban.
“If you squint hard enough, there is some justification on a security basis for this, but the implementation has been haphazard and in a manner that is particularly targeted at and does harm to the commercial interests of a set of airlines that has been the source of much competitive hand-wringing from U.S. airlines,” Airways senior business analyst Vinay Bhaskra told Business Insider.
On the other hand, no U.S. carriers offer nonstop flights into the Middle East, so they won’t benefit directly. However, business travelers will likely end up flying out of European airports like Frankfurt, London, and Paris, which means U.S. airlines will benefit because they have alliance relationships with European carriers such as Lufthansa and Air France.
To make things even more confusing, the UK followed the U.S.’s lead and issued its own electronics ban, citing information from U.S. intelligence about the threat. However, the UK’s ban only affects six countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia, and one of those is not on the U.S.’s list of countries affected. The UK ban also only affects seven airlines, compared to the U.S.’s nine.
If the two nations are acting on the same intelligence, you’d think they would issue the same bans for the same countries and the same airlines.
Dr. Jean-Marc Rickli of King’s College London and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy told The Independent that if they have intelligence indicating a specific threat, nations often issue a global ban rather than limiting actions to certain countries and certain airlines.
“If they have critical intelligence that something could happen, fine, but the measures that they are taking shows a mismatch with the threat,” Rickli said. “As soon as you issue a ban like this, from a terrorist perspective you will just change your operating plan—instead of flying from Doha or Dubai, you just fly from Amsterdam or Paris.”
Whatever the reason, the laptop ban is sure to be a big hassle for business travelers flying from the Middle East to the U.S. or the UK.
What do you think of the laptop ban? Is it reasonable? Do you think it’s actually targeted at terror attacks, or do you think there may be other commercial reasons at work? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Photo: Planes preparing for takeoff out of Dubai Airport. Dubai is a the home port for Emirates Airlines and one of the biggest air travel hubs in the world. Emirates Airlines and Dubai airport are affected by the U.S.’s laptop ban, but not the UK’s. Photo: Fedor Selivanov / Shutterstock.com