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.

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“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.”