Laptop ban is ‘not acceptable’, says head of global airline group

Alexandre de Juniac says governments need to find a better way – and quickly.

The US and UK have banned laptops on flights coming from Middle eastern countries, a move that Iata has decried. Lucas Jackson / Reuters

The head of the airline industry’s global trade body has criticised the ban on laptops and large electronic items on flights from the Middle East as ineffective, and called on both the US and UK governments to find alternatives.

Alexandre de Juniac, the director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), said that the measures were “not an acceptable long-term solution to whatever threat they are trying to mitigate”. He also warned that they create severe “commercial distortions” in the marketplace.

In a speech given at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday evening, Mr de Juniac said that his organisation’s members had asked why there was a discrepancy between the countries covered by the US and UK bans (passengers from the UAE and Qatar are banned from bringing laptops into the US, but not the UK) and why laptops are deemed safe in cabins on some flights and not others, including flights departing from the same airports.

“Surely there must be a way to screen electronic equipment effectively? The current situation is not acceptable and will not maintain the all-important confidence of the industry or of travellers,” said Mr de Juniac. “We must find a better way. And governments must act quickly.”

Mr de Juniac also criticised the way in which such measures are introduced, calling for a more coordinated approach.

“While governments have the primary responsibility for sec­urity, we share the priority of keeping passengers, crew and aircraft secure. To do that effectively intelligence is king. And it needs to be shared among governments and with the industry,” he said. One analyst agreed with Iata, and recommended the use of alternative methods to ensure security, such as electronic scanning of devices that are to be brought into a cabin.

“[Or] the travellers can bring their external drives into the cabin and simply plug into the provided laptop to continue working,” said Geoffrey Thomas, an analyst with AirlineRatings.com. “What needs to be explained by the US government is why the UAE and Qatar are included in its ban, while the UK does not [include these countries].”

The UAE’s two major airlines, Etihad Airways and Emirates, have both been trying to limit the effect of the ban on passengers carrying laptops into cabins, which was introduced on nine airlines from 10 countries.

Etihad said this week that it was offering free Wi-Fi and free iPads to all customers in first and business class to allow them to carry on working, while Emirates has started a service allowing passengers to use laptops and tablets right up until boarding, when the devices are then placed in the hold. The devices are then handed back to passengers once they reach their destination.

An analysis by Bloomberg identifying alternative routes using airlines unaffected by the ban, found that alternatives usually involved higher ticket prices and often much longer travel times, with multiple stops.

Although there is little disruption on flights from Bangalore to San Francisco, with the trip generally taking only an hour or two longer via Paris or Hong Kong, on other routes options are more limited. For instance, without using Emirates or Etihad, flights from Karachi to New York take much longer – from 16 hours via Dubai to 22 hours via Lahore, and that only twice a week.

The ban is to remain in place until October 14. Emirates and Etihad did not answer requests for comment.

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