Are European business travellers going to have to leave their laptops in the hold when they travel on business to the United States? United States ? This is the threat that has been hanging over the business travel sector for the past few hours, as theextension of "laptop ban to the European continent. This ban on laptops and electronic devices larger than a smartphone has already been in place in several countries since the end of March.
more questions than answers
According to official sources quoted by CNN - including an official from the Department of Homeland Security - the American authorities could make this measure official in the very near future. Nothing has yet been decided, but the air transport and business travel industries are already mobilising against the plan. Alexandre de Juniac is already on the front line. The new boss of IATA - the International Air Transport Association is calling on the US authorities to " take appropriate measures (...) in full collaboration with the airline industry ". At ACT (Association of Corporate Travel Executives), one of the world's leading business travel associations, Greeley Koch points out that " This ban interferes with the ability of business travellers to remain productive while on the move (...). The measures taken by governments to protect the security of their citizens should not give rise to more questions than answers. ". The Executive Director goes on to list these questions, and at the same time to point out the inconsistencies in this approach: " Why have the United States and the United Kingdom aimed at different countries for the initial ban, and why haven't other countries followed them? (...) How can these bans increase safety, when they are easily circumvented ? "asks Greeley Koch. He is joined on this point by Alexandre de Juniac, who stresses on CNN that connecting flights make such a measure ineffective.
The Gulf carriers, which were the first to be targeted by the laptop ban in March, have already felt the impact of the ban on their business customers. Some have reacted by offering loaner computers on board their aircraft en route to the United States, such as Qatar Airways. Others have opted to reduce their US catalogue in this less buoyant environment, like Emirates. Some see this type of measure above all as a protectionist move by President Trump, aimed at favouring American companies in a context of strong competition...
