Laptop ban on US flights from some Middle Eastern countries comes into effect

The ban on electronic items bigger than a smartphone on some flights into the USA, originating from some Middle Eastern countries, came into effect yesterday.

While many people had feared it would cause chaos at the airport, reports suggest that things did not get too out of hand.

The US ban affected nine airlines from eight countries — Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. UK too passed similar restrictions to flights from six countries — Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

As the ban came into effect on Saturday, passengers on dozens of flights from Dubai to Doha checked in their electronic devices. Many passengers said the new measure was merely another inconvenience of global travel.

“It's a rule. I follow the rules,” Rakan Mohammed, a Qatari national at the Dubai airport, told AFP.

“The bigger problem for my family is the no smoking. On a long flight, they become restless after three hours,” Mohammad was quoted as saying.

The dangerous problem with Lithium ion batteries

One of the unintended side effects of the electronics ban is the pile-up of large number of lithium-ion batteries in the cargo hold of an airliner, according to Business Insider.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, it’s behavior can have potentially catastrophic consequences.

“FAA battery fire testing has highlighted the potential risk of a catastrophic aircraft loss due to damage resulting from a lithium battery fire or explosion. Current cargo fire suppression systems cannot effectively control a lithium battery fire,” the agency wrote in an alert last year.

Administration officials told journalists that they were working with the FAA to maintain a safe flying environment, but no specifics were available.

Some affected countries react with anger against ban

Some countries affected by the restrictions have called the ban ‘unjustified.’

Tunisian authorities summoned the British ambassador, Louise de Sousa, to protest the inclusion of their country on the ban list.

Mohamed Mezghani, the Foreign Ministry's head of European affairs, told de Sousa that the ban “does not reflect the security situation in Tunisia,” according to North Africa Post.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also urged US and UK authorities to lift the ban. according to Yahoo News.

US officials had said the restrictions were prompted by "evaluated intelligence" about potential threats to airplanes bound for the United States.

The BBC cited US Department for Homeland Security as saying that attacks on planes and airports over the past two years was the reason for the ban.

Bombs, it said, had been hidden in such items as a soft drink can, used in the downing of a Russian airliner over Egypt in October 2015 with the loss of 224 lives, and the laptop used in the unsuccessful Somali attack last year.