Banning laptops on planes....

It's a bit weird. What's to stop someone from say Turkey travelling by train to Sofia ( approx €32 ) and getting on a plane to London from there?

http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Istanbul.htm



What's to stop the same person getting on a plane from Istanbul to Dublin and getting on a plane from here to London?

They are racist obviously for targeting these countries. No terrorism threat from these particular nations of course.

It's simply protectionism cloaked as terrorism prevention.

JUST BEFORE U.S. airline industry CEOs met at the White House with Donald Trump on Thursday, the big three carriers — Delta, United and American — released a video featuring some of Trump’s populist rhetoric about “trade cheats” and directing viewers to a website for a lobbying campaign to “protect American jobs.”

But the campaign, called the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, is in reality a cutthroat bid to block certain Arab airlines from U.S. airports — a decision analysts say would limit the choices for consumers while increasing market consolidation for the big three.

This comes after a similar request for protection during the Obama administration — which sought to prevent foreign competitors from offering lower prices — was largely rebuffed.

But now that there’s a president who has promised to crack down on foreigners, the airlines are at it again, hoping to harness “America First” rhetoric for profiteering protectionism.

LINK

Notice that the ban does not affect US-registered carriers. It's the US government protecting US airlines from competition from state-backed Middle East airlines (Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways).
The choice is now between a direct flight from the ME to the US without any personal entertainment equipment or a flight with an additional stop on a (code-sharing) U.S. carrier.

It is the use of security as an excuse for differential regional pricing whereby the price of goods is dependant on 'how much the market will bear in each region' rather than a straightforward global price for all consumers.

The British ban is to achieve the same aim even though it targets different airports and airlines than the US does. That is likely a reflection of British Airways' competitive situation on those routes.

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Or you could bring an actual paper book!!

Asking people to put their laptops in the luggage hold —considering the way those bags are treated, and the importance and value of the information on them for most people— is tantamount to cancelling those flights for anyone who needs to bring a computer with them for travel.

They caught someone trying to board a plane with a laptop bomb who had hand been handed the laptop after the security checkpoint.

So perhaps it's the fact the airside security isn't as tight in these airports that's also an issue.