ANALYSIS: US electronics ban to affect 18,000 daily passengers
1 MARCH, 2017 - SOURCE:
FLIGHTGLOBAL PRO -BY: JON HEMMERDINGER - BOSTON
The US
government's latest air travel security measures could impact nearly 18,000
daily passengers travelling on some 50 routes to the USA from 10 foreign
airports, according to schedule data reviewed by FlightGlobal.
In addition, flights to the UK
from Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tunisia will also be
subjected to similar new security provisions, says UK authorities.
The US restrictions, which take
effect 25 March, prohibit passengers travelling from the ten cities in Africa
and the Middle East from carrying a range of electronic devices in aircraft
passenger cabins, according to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Prohibited devices are those
larger than cellular phones, including laptop and tablet computers, electronic
book readers, cameras, portable DVD players, electronic games and travel
printers, says DHS.
Passengers on affected flights
must pack those devices in checked luggage, the agency says.
The restrictions on electronics
will be in effect until 14 October, says Dubai-based Emirates Airline, one of the
carriers affected.
The ten airports affected by the
ban are Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Casablanca, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul Ataturk, Jeddah, Kuwait
and Riyadh.
Those airports were chosen
"based on the current threat picture", says the DHS. The ban does not
affect international flights originating in the USA, says the agency.
FlightMaps Analytics
Though the requirements effect
only ten cities, they encompass most flights from an entire region and include
hubs operated by carriers that in recent years have expanded aggressively in
the USA.
Nine airlines – all of them
non-US carriers – operate routes affected by the restrictions, FlightGlobal
schedules data shows.
They are Egyptair, Etihad Airways, Emirates, Kuwait Airways, Royal Jordanian, Royal Air Maroc, Saudia, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, schedules data
shows.
Many of those airlines operate
multiple daily flights to the USA.
Etihad for instance, flies from Abu
Dhabi to six US airports, carrying an average of 2,100 seats daily,
FlightGlobal schedules data shows.
Likewise, the restrictions
affect Qatar's 11 daily flights to ten US cities, and Emirates' 17 daily flights to 11
US cities. Qatar carries more than 3,500 seats daily to the USA, while Emirates' daily US-bound seat
count tops 7,000, schedules data shows.
The restrictions also have
outsized impact on Turkish Airlines, which serves nine US cities and
carries some 3,100 seats daily to the USA.
Also affected are five routes
operated by Saudia, two operated by Royal Jordanian, one Egyptair route, two Royal Air Maroc routes and one Kuwait Airways route, schedules data shows.
The news, which broke 20 March
before being officially announced by US officials, appears to catch carriers by
surprise, but the industry is now reviewing the measures and informing
customers.
"A number of IATA's member
airlines have been contacted by the US Transportation Security Administration
with regards to restrictions on electronic items that can be carried onboard
flights to the US," says IATA in a statement. "IATA is working with
its members and the TSA to achieve greater clarity on required actions."
The TSA sits under the
Department of Homeland Security.
Etihad, Emirates, Royal Jordanian, Egyptair, Turkish Airlines and Saudia say they are complying with the
new restrictions.
Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc and Kuwait Airways did not immediately comment, and
it remains unclear how the security changes will impact airport and flight
operations.
DHS made the security changes
after receiving new intelligence indicating "terrorist groups continue to
target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in various
consumer items", the agency says in an information document.
"Disseminated propaganda
from various terrorist groups is encouraging attacks on aviation," it
adds. "Terrorist propaganda has highlighted the attacks against aircraft
in Egypt with a soda can packed with explosives in October 2015, and in Somalia
using an explosives-laden laptop in February 2016."
"We have reason to be
concerned," DHS says, adding the measures are based on newly-received
intelligence without elaborating.
On 31 October 2015, an Airbus
A321 operated by Russian carrier Kogalymavia's MetroJet brand crashed shortly after
departure from the Egyptian resort destinations of Sharm el-Sheikh, enroute to
St Petersburg, killing 217 passengers and seven crew.
Investigators suspect an
explosion brought down the aircraft.
Then on 2 February 2016, a Daallo Airlines A320 made an emergency landing
at Mogadishu after an explosion ripped a hole
in the fuselage.
Investigators believe a bomb
inside a laptop computer caused the explosion, which killed only the suspected
bomber.
In 2014, TSA announced that
officers would start asking passengers on some US-bound flights to power-up
their devices – proving that they work – before boarding.
The latest electronic
restrictions are being rolled out against a backdrop of uncertainty on air
travel to the USA from the Middle East. In recent weeks, US courts have
challenged President Donald Trump's revised order to block entry into the USA
by nationals of six Muslim-majority countries.
Three of the nine airlines that
will be affected by the new electronics rules are also currently embroiled in a
heated dispute with the three major US carriers Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines. The US airlines
accuse Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways of benefitting from billions in
state subsidies, an allegation denied by the Gulf carriers.
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