© Ragsac19 _11794388
© Ragsac19

Something smells wrong about this latest US travel ban, which prevents passengers flying from certain airports into the US from carrying electronic devices larger than a phone in the cabin. For one thing, in the 10 airports named, all in majority-Muslim countries, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai among them – there is good security screening, as ATW’s Karen Walker points out. And the reason behind the ban is unclear – why those airports? What is to stop criminally minded passengers flying non-direct? What will the harm to those national carriers be? And does keeping large numbers of computers, with lithium batteries, in the hold also present safety issues? Business passengers will start to rethink their travel plans if they can’t work on the plane. It’s a peculiar move on the part of the Department of Homeland Security, as Ms Walker notes.

And breaking news… the UK has followed suit. But interestingly, the UK has not included Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It is only citing Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. The move must mean there is certainly some intelligence on the matter – but it remains interesting that the US included the Gulf carrier hubs.

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