The
US has imposed an electronics ban on nine carriers; Qatar Airways, Emirates
Airways, Turkish Airlines, EgyptAir, Etihad Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air
Maroc, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Saudi Airlines from ten different airports
around the world. The ban affects direct flights from eight countries in North
Africa and the Middle East to the US. The "electronics ban" means
passengers have to check in devices which are bigger than smartphones like
tablets, cameras and of course laptops!
The
White House press secretary, Sean Spicer declared during his daily briefing two
weeks ago that, terrorists are constantly trying to target commercial aviation
especially US bound flights. UK has announced it will implement a similar
electronics ban on certain flights. US intelligence agencies have evidence that
some terrorist groups have successfully found ways to implant sophisticated
explosive devices into laptops which can evade airport security. One such
laptop bomb blew a hole in the body of a Somali Daallo Airlines passenger plane
before it reached cruising speed in February but did not down the aircraft. The
suspected bomber was blown out of the plane and two people aboard were injured.
The plane successfully returned to the airport in Mogadishu.
The
electronics ban which started on April 1st will hit Dubai hardest because it
has the world's busiest airport. The big three Gulf carriers, Emirates, Etihad
and Qatar have particularly tough times ahead. Emirates is scrambling to figure
out the rules and ease the headache on travellers by letting them keep their
electronic devices for the first leg of their US journey. Qatar Airways is
going around the ban in its own way by offering loaner laptops for free to
business class passengers at the boarding gate. As for economy class
passengers, who won't receive loaner laptops, they might just start
experiencing a resurgence of "reading a book on board a plane,"
again, if the in-flight entertainment is not great or absent, especially during
long haul flights.
