U.N. aviation agency urges balance of security risk, safety in
electronics ban
FILE PHOTO - A Transportation Safety
Administration agent looks over a passenger at San Francisco International
Airport in San Francisco, California February 27, 2015. REUTERS/Robert
Galbraith
The United Nation's aviation agency on Wednesday urged
regulators to weigh security and safety, after the United States and Britain
imposed restrictions on several carry-on electronic devices on planes coming
from certain airports in Muslim majority countries.
A news statement
published by the International Civil Aviation Organization stressed a balance
between security "risk" and safety concerns, because "incidents involving
devices containing lithium batteries may be more easily mitigated in the cabin
than in checked baggage."
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security said passengers traveling from 10 airports in the Middle East and North
Africa could no longer bring devices larger than a mobile phone such as a laptop
into the main cabin, following reports that militant groups want to smuggle
explosive devices inside electronic gadgets.
A spokesman for British
Prime Minister Theresa May later said there would also be curbs requiring
electronic items to be transported as checked baggage on flights from six
countries in the Middle East.
The carry-on ban, while addressing security
concerns, has some authorities worried about technical safety risks, such as
lithium-powered goods catching fire in the hold.
"Finding an effective
balance between safety and security approaches is always a priority in global
aviation," the ICAO statement said.
While Montreal-based ICAO cannot
impose rules, it sets safety and security standards for international aviation
that are usually followed by the organization's 191 member countries.
In
2016, ICAO announced a prohibition on shipments of lithium-ion batteries as
cargo on passenger planes. Industry experts are now working to develop new and
improved packaging standards that could be used to safely transport these
batteries on planes.
While lithium-powered consumer items like laptops
are permitted in checked baggage, some ICAO staff have shared safety concerns
with countries that are implementing or considering the electronics carry-on
ban, said a source close to the aviation agency.
ICAO has not decided
whether to propose turning the carry-on electronics ban into a global standard,
a second source said.
Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity
because they are not authorized to talk to the media.
"ICAO and its
member states will continue to review the evolving aviation security environment
in the coming weeks," the statement said.
Canada dispatches team to Brussels to assess airplane laptop
threat
Transport Minister Marc Garneau has sent a team of
officials to Brussels to assess intelligence information before deciding whether
Canada should require passengers travelling from some Middle Eastern countries
to pack all large electronic devices other than cellphones in their checked
baggage.
The United States and Britain have ruled that only cellphones
and smartphones will be allowed in the passenger cabin of flights into the U.S.
and Britain from a number of Muslim-majority countries.
U.S. Homeland
Secretary John Kelly passed on intelligence to Mr. Garneau in a telephone
discussion on March 20 after the U.S. banned laptops on passenger aircraft
arriving from 10 airports in eight countries.
Canadian security agencies
and Transport Canada assessed the intelligence and are now seeking further
clarification.
"My officials are in Brussels to attend meetings with a
core group of allies and experts on the issue of banned electronics in the cabin
of aircraft. We are carefully assessing information of concern with partners,"
Mr. Garneau said in a statement.
No details have been provided on why the
U.S. and Great Britain became alarmed about laptops on passenger planes, but it
was reported by The New York Times that intelligence showed Islamic State is
developing a bomb hidden in portable electronics.
Mr. Garneau assured
Canadians that their safety should not be a concern at this time.
"We
have in place enhanced and targeted security measures for flights destined to
Canada in airports and countries around the world. This is normal practice, and
such measures are in effect on almost every continent, including South America,
Asia and Africa," he said. "Our government remains vigilant in continuously
assessing our security measures and will not hesitate to take further action
when needed."
U.S. officials have told Reuters the information gleaned
from a U.S. commando raid in January in Yemen that targeted al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) included bomb-making techniques.
AQAP, based in
Yemen, has plotted to take down U.S. airliners and claimed responsibility for
the 2015 attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.
The
group claimed responsibility for a Dec. 25, 2009, failed attempt by a Nigerian
Islamist to down an airliner over Detroit. The device, hidden in the underwear
of the man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, failed to detonate.
The U.S. ban
affects flights from international airports in Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey,
Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. About 50 flights a day
will be impacted, all on foreign carriers.
Britain's ban applies to
domestic and foreign flights coming from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia
and Saudi Arabia.
Of the nine airlines affected by the U.S. ban, eight
offer direct routes to Canada, through either Toronto's Pearson International
Airport or Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
If
Canada were to follow a similar ban, among the routes affected could be Turkish
Airlines flights from Istanbul to Montreal, Royal Jordanian Airlines flights
between Amman and Montreal and Qatar Airways flights between Doha and
Montreal.
Angela Gittens, director-general of airport association ACI
World, likened the move to the years-long restrictions of liquids on planes,
which she said also came suddenly, in response to a perceived threat, and caused
some disruption.
Airlines will adjust to the electronics policy, she
said. "The first few days of something like this are quite problematic, but just
as with the liquids ban, it will start to sort itself out."
U.S.
officials said the decision had nothing to do with President Donald Trump's
efforts to impose a travel ban on six majority-Muslim nations. Homeland Security
spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said the government "did not target specific
nations. We relied upon evaluated intelligence to determine which airports were
affected."
On March 6, President Trump signed a revised executive order
barring citizens from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from
travelling to the United States for 90 days. Two federal judges have halted
parts of the ban, saying it discriminates against Muslims. Mr. Trump has vowed
to appeal up to the Supreme Court if necessary.
The rules do apply to
U.S. citizens travelling on those flights, but not to crew members on those
foreign carriers. Homeland Security will allow passengers to use larger approved
medical devices.
While Canada assesses the information that led to the
U.S. and UK actions, the International Air Transport Association called for the
ban to be a temporary measure.
"The current measures are not an
acceptable long-term solution to whatever threat they are trying to mitigate,"
Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive officer of the
association said in a speech in Montreal. "Even in the short term it is
difficult to understand their effectiveness. And the commercial distortions they
create are severe. We call on governments to work with the industry to find a
way to keep flying secure without separating passengers from their personal
electronics."
Airlines are raising legitimate criticisms of the ban, Mr.
de Juniac said.
The two countries have placed the ban on flights from
different airports and laptops are regarded as secure in some airplane cabins
but not others, he noted.
"We must find a better way. And governments
must act quickly," he said.
Gulf airlines offer workarounds to US electronics ban
Persian Gulf airlines have begun loaning laptops and
iPads to travelers on U.S.-bound flights, the latest workaround to a new U.S.
policy banning large electronics on select flights from the Middle East and
Africa.
Qatar Airways will let business-class passengers flying out of
the targeted airports use laptops at no charge after boarding and give them one
hour of free Wi-Fi, while Etihad Airways will make iPads available for
first-class and business-class passengers and provide vouchers for free
Wi-Fi.
Qatar Airways is also offering a "handling service" to accommodate
passengers that want to use their laptops up until boarding. The service will
allow any banned items to be collected at the gate, packed up, loaded onto the
plane as checked baggage and returned back to the customer upon arrival to the
U.S.
Dubai's Emirates airline announced a similar solution last
week.
"As an award-winning and global airline we truly appreciate the
importance of being able to work on board our aircraft and that is why I have
insisted on offering only the best possible solution for our customers," said
Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways Group. "By providing this
laptop loan service we can ensure that our passengers on flights to the US can
continue to work whilst on-board."
Middle Eastern airlines, which have
worked aggressively to boost their image in the U.S., have been racing to
contain the fallout from President Trump's new electronics ban.
The
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced earlier this month that
passengers will now be prohibited from carrying electronic devices larger than a
cellphone - including laptops, tablets, cameras and portable DVD players - onto
the cabins of certain U.S.-bound flights. Those items may be stowed in checked
luggage, however.
The indefinite ban applies to 10 different airports in
Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Qatar, Morocco and the United Arab
Emirates.
While the policy does not target specific nations or airlines,
it affects nine overseas air carriers that have a total of 50 daily direct
flights to the U.S., according to senior officials. No U.S. airlines are
affected because none has direct flights from the select airports.
If the
airlines don't comply, they could have their certificate to fly to the U.S.
revoked.
Senior administration officials said the new security protocols
are being implemented because terrorist groups are "aggressively pursuing
innovative methods" to smuggle explosive devices onto commercial
flights.
But Gulf carriers are worried about the damage of the
electronics ban on their business. Tourists and business travelers often work
while they fly and may be reluctant to put expensive electronics with sensitive
information in checked baggage, and they may decide to avoid Middle Eastern
airports altogether.
The United Kingdom announced a similar rule, but
that ban does not affect Emirates, Qatar and Etihad, which have been major
industry rivals in the U.S.
Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, told
CNN that the security protocols will be "hugely disruptive" for Emirates and he
questioned why only some airlines and airports are singled out.
"After
all, if these devices are viewed by the United States and the United Kingdom as
potential instruments of threat, they can be loaded on any airplane anywhere,"
Clark said. "To suggest that Dubai doesn't have the equal capabilities or better
than the Europeans, the Americans and the Asians in terms of search,
interdiction and surveillance, I find amazing."
