Electronic Devices Ban on Direct Flights to UK from 6 ME and North African Countries
 

According to Sky News the ban on electronic devices in hand baggge from some countries will now affect flights to the UK too.

I'll believe it when I see it.

I wouldn't give too much credence to a talking head on Sky News.

These are the airlines affected by the US ban, is it the same for UK?

The nine airlines affected are:

Royal Jordanian
Egypt Air
Turkish Airlines
Saudi Arabian Airlines
Kuwait Airways
Royal Air Maroc
Qatar Airways
Emirates
Etihad Airways

US officials said the airlines had been given 96 hours, beginning at 07:00 GMT on Tuesday, to ban devices bigger than a mobile phone or smartphone from cabins. They said the ban had no end date.

Hopefully a false alarm - implementing a similar policy between LHR and DXB would *not* be an easy one to police given the number of passengers this would affect!

<deleted>.

It would be odd if only the national airlines of those countires are affected rather than all flights departing from there though.

Hopefully. It is being repored on the Telegraph, Independent and Twitter too, although it's highly likely that they are all quoting from the same "source", quite possibly each other.

Not as many as the ban on liquids affected, and look how that has been policed. I suspect that secondary security at the gate for those flights affected will be the way it will be implimented.

BBC reporting it too.

The article says:

This was one year ago! :confused::confused::confused:

Apart from the security risk of leaving laptops etc in baggage, I didn't think you were allowed to have lithium batteries in the hold due to the potential fire hazard...

Guardian reports that formal announcement expected this afternoon.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39343971

BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford said the UK move was "obviously part of coordinated action with the US".

The attempted downing of an airliner in Somalia last year was linked to a laptop device and it appears the security precautions are an attempt to stop similar incidents, our correspondent added.

Under the US move, large electronic devices will only be allowed on board in checked baggage. Phones are exempt from the new rules.

I believe the ban is actually on airports rather than airlines; these are the airlines that currently have direct flights from those airports to the US.

Therefore a UK ban would affect all flights from those airports to the UK, including BA. A giant pain in the etc., but probably for good cause. Let's home it's not eternal.

Your insurance policy.

I suspect that these might have to alter.

The airline would pay out 1131SDR, if you can provide the receipt for what you've had lost/damaged.

Travel Insurance would supplement this further, however given the average UK policy caps this at £1500 (and I assume they would deduct the airline's payout), this doesn't provide much extra support for the average passenger. Plus as GentleGiant mentions, who's to say they won't quickly update their liabilities?!

It also doesn't help business travellers whose corporate policy states that laptops/removable media must not leave the travelers side (a "stolen from the car boot" exclusion).