Air travel restrictions

[DMB]

It has been announced that on flights to the US or the UK from a number of specified airports electronic devices bigger than mobile phones will be banned in hand luggage and must be checked in. This is going to be maddening for a lot of businessmen who seem to work non-stop on laptops and tablets. But for an oldie like me it would be disastrous. I have become accustomed to travelling with a kindle with a few hundred books on it. I long ago got rid of my dead-tree books. I don't know how I would survive.

I don't at the moment travel from most of the named airports, but I wonder if it will soon be like the ban on liquids and become general.

It looks as though the measurements are designed to exclude kindles. Are there slightly smaller e-readers that would still be OK?

[Ravensknight]

A link please?

[FizzyWater]

And what happens when the baggage handlers or warehouse staff start stealing those corporate laptops?! Our corporate policy is to never check laptops to protect against loss of confidential information.

I'm with Ravensnight. I need a link to see the details.

[tubemonkey]

U.S., Britain Restrict Electronics On Flights From Mideast Countries

Airline passengers coming to the U.S. and Britain on direct flights from a number of majority-Muslim nations must now place most electronic devices, including laptops, tablets and cameras, in checked baggage under stepped-up security measures, the Trump administration and the British government said.

Passengers can still carry smartphones into the plane's cabin, but nothing larger, officials from the two countries added.

The measures took effect Tuesday morning, and in the U.S. they cover about 50 incoming flights a day from the eight countries on the list — Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

All are traditional U.S. allies and none is among the six majority-Muslim nations on President Trump's controversial executive order that seeks to temporarily suspend immigration. The president issued a revised executive order on March 6, and that one, like the original in January, has been halted by the courts.

[AnemicOak]

UK Policy

Under the new arrangements, phones, laptops and tablets larger than:

length: 16.0cm
width: 9.3cm
depth: 1.5cm
will not be allowed in the cabin on selected flights to the UK from the countries affected. Most smart phones fall within these limits and will continue to be allowed on board. However, devices larger than these dimensions may not be carried in the cabin. This is in addition to other existing security arrangements. This will apply to inbound flights to the UK from the following locations:

Turkey
Lebanon
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Jordan
Tunisia

More...

Which devices are not allowed in the cabin?
large phones
all laptops
all tablets and e-readers

Which flights and routes will this apply to?
These new measures will apply on all inbound direct flights travelling to the UK from the following countries:
Turkey
Lebanon
Jordan
Egypt
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
Passengers travelling on these flights should check online with their carrier if they require further information.


What’s a ‘normal sized mobile phone’?
Most smart phones will be allowed in the cabin, including many common popular handsets such as:
iPhone 7 Plus
Samsung Galaxy 7 Edge
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
LG G3
Sony Xperia Z2

The new UK measures will mean that phones, laptops and tablets larger than:

length: 16.0cm
width: 9.3cm
depth: 1.5cm
will not be allowed in the cabin.

In the myriad of news articles talking about it I haven't seen a link to the US policy, nor on the TSA, FAA or Homeland websites.

[tubemonkey]

[....]There are numerous ways for terrorists to defeat this restriction. In the meantime, innocent passengers are harassed and inconvenienced for no justifiable reason.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

There are numerous ways for terrorists to defeat this restriction. In the meantime, innocent passengers are harassed and inconvenienced for no justifiable reason.

I don't see the sense of it. Electronisc devices need to be taken out of our your luggage when you pass security, why not check each individual device for explosives when you have easy access to it? (they already did that with my devices, as having 2 tablets and a tablet-sized ereader is highly suspicious).

[DMB]

I think that concentrating on flights from specific airports suggests that they think the security checks at those airports are insufficient. Anyone who does a fair bit of international travel will be aware of the differences in security checks.

There's also the question of how much safer, if any, it is to put the devices into checked-in luggage.

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

See the discussion here

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/a...-force-changes

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by DMB

I think that concentrating on flights from specific airports suggests that they think the security checks at those airports are insufficient. Anyone who does a fair bit of international travel will be aware of the differences in security checks.

Yes, the British don't even trust the American one... (why else were we checked again after just exiting a plane from LAX? We had only seen 1 toilet block between exiting the plane and the security check)

[DMB]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

[....]There are numerous ways for terrorists to defeat this restriction. In the meantime, innocent passengers are harassed and inconvenienced for no justifiable reason.

I think it's going to turn out like the restriction on liquids, which still maddens me. I remember when that was imposed. I turned up at a French airport and everyone was taken by surprise. At that time they were making you get rid of or throw away a hell of a lot of stuff. At least with this restriction there is a bit of a warning.

IIRC it was about 18 months after the restriction on liquids was first imposed that a terrorist trial in the UK showed what had been behind it.

I can't find it again, but yesterday when I first saw news about this new restriction I saw a video clip that appeared to show someone going through the security check and then being passed a laptop by another person in the clear airside area.

You may remember that in 2015 a Russian flight from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt crashed in Sinai. Russia and the UK were convinced that it was brought down by a terrorist bomb but Egypt denied it. As a result, all sorts of restrictions were imposed on flights from Egypt, where security was considered to be inadequate.

[kennyc]

I think there are ulterior motives to these restrictions, particularly since they have been secretive in the reasoning. [....]The only thing that gives me pause in that belief is that the U.K. has adopted the same/similar restrictions.

On the other hand I do a good majority of my (inside) reading on my phone a 6" Blu Energy XL these days and use my kindle fire less and less. I still use my K2 while walking outside in the sunlight most days.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DMB

I think it's going to turn out like the restriction on liquids, which still maddens me. I remember when that was imposed. I turned up at a French airport and everyone was taken by surprise. At that time they were making you get rid of or throw away a hell of a lot of stuff. At least with this restriction there is a bit of a warning.

This restriction is easily bypassed. All a terrorist would have to do is fly from a restricted airport to an airport that isn't observing these restrictions and then catch a flight to the US or UK with their laptop in the cabin all the way.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I think there are ulterior motives to these restrictions, particularly since they have been secretive in the reasoning. [....] The only thing that gives me pause in that belief is that the U.K. has adopted the same/similar restrictions.

I think the British are even worse than the Americans... The only problem we had with going to America was our papers (applying for Esta, then self-checking our papers on a machine, then completely ignoring that machine result, manual checking of the papers again by a security officer...). And leaving the States was simply removing all electronic devices from your handluggage and making sure you didn't have any larger filled fluids container. In the UK, we had to put all fluids into a plastic bag, which then had to also be placed outside your hand luggage...

On the other hand I do a good majority of my (inside) reading on my phone a 6" Blu Energy XL these days and use my kindle fire less and less. I still use my K2 while walking outside in the sunlight most days.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but officially that phone is too large
160.9 x 81.2 x 8.4 mm. Almost a cm too high!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DMB

I think it's going to turn out like the restriction on liquids, which still maddens me.

I no longer fly because of these post-9/11 restrictions. Additionally, I avoid the Canadian border like the plague. [....]

[DMB]

I can't avoid flying. I travel frequently between the UK and Switzerland and less frequently elsewhere. When the Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010 disrupted European air travel I needed to get home to Switzerland so I took a train from St Pancras in London, through the Channel Tunnel and ending up at Gare du Nord in Paris. I then had to travel with luggage to the Gare de Lyon from which I got a train to Lausanne. Apart from the fact that it took many more hours, it would now be an impossible journey for me because of my disability.

The requirement to put liquids in a plastic bag for the security check is common in many countries beside the UK. The USA simply doesn't always apply international regulations.

I gave up travelling to the USA some years ago after my husband and I were both separately treated badly by airport security. I don't need to travel there for work reasons any more and so have simply given up recreational travel there.

I think, however, that international travel does impose all sorts of onerous conditions and it just depends how strong is one's need for it. I find Australia rather difficult, but I will still go there from time to time because my daughter and her family live there and I want to visit them. In the USA I have only a cousin and a few friends and it's not quite as compulsive as the closer blood ties.