Qantas and Virgin Australia may soon have to ask their Middle Eastern and African equivalents for some advice on dealing with the U.S ban on inflight electronics, if it’s extended to services from Australia.
Two months after implementing the controversial ruling on select cities in the Middle East and Africa, U.S. Homeland Security’s Secretary, John Kelly, said the agency was looking at ramping up the ban to cover all flights to and from the United States.
This includes services from Australian cities operating by both local carriers (Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand) and US-based airlines (United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines).
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, the Secretary said the US is planning to “raise the bar” when it comes to airline security by potentially expanding the ban and tightening airport screenings.
He continued, saying he believes people looking to harm the US are “obsessed” with “the idea of knocking down an airplane in flight”.
The ban was first introduced in March on services operating from gateways in Cairo, Istanbul, Kuwait City, Doha, Casablanca, Amman, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi.
As part of the ruling, travellers are unable to pack any form of technology larger than a mobile phone in their carry-on. Meaning, any laptops, iPads, Kindles or DVD players need to be either stored in their check-in or handed in at the gate and stowed away by the airline.
Middle Eastern airlines responded to the US ruling by working around loopholes, lending out tablets and laptops, and finding the humour with quirky in-flight tips and poems.
Two weeks ago, Homeland Security said it was looking at implemented the ban on European flights to the US, which according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) would end up costing an estimated US$655 million (AU$884 million) a year in loss of productivity, US$216 million in longer travel and US$195 million in reduced wellbeing.