Qantas travellers to London better make sure their laptops, tablets and smartphones are charged up before they leave the Emirates lounge in Dubai, with UK authorities now adopting a similar stance to the USA's ban on powerless electronic devices.
Australian Business Traveller reader Andrew Larmour says that on arrival into Dubai on the Qantas QF9 Melbourne-London flight, it was announced that "random checks of carry-on electronic equipment (including having to power them up) would be carried out for the second segment of QF9 to London."
If your travel tech fails to start up during the security check it won't be allowed onto the plane with you, and will be consigned to your checked baggage.
Qantas advises that "customers travelling on flights from Dubai to the UK who are randomly selected to undergo additional screening may be required to remove footwear and from hand luggage all electrical equipment including portable electronic devices such as laptops, iPads, smart phones, and cameras larger than a standard mobile phone and power up the device to demonstrate functionality."
"Passengers are advised to ensure that their electronic devices are charged before travel" Qantas suggests. "Devices that do not power on may not be permitted onboard the aircraft."
Last week saw the US Transportation Security Administration begin selective bans on powerless electronic devices on flights bound for the United States.
Responding to a directive by the Secretary of Homeland Security, passengers may be asked to power up certain gadgets – including laptops, mobile phones and iPads – before being allowed on board.
Those that won’t boot, whether faulty or simply with a flat battery, won’t be allowed into the cabin and must be placed in checked baggage at “certain overseas airports”.
The Department of Homeland Security isn’t revealing which foreign airports would be targeted – or indeed whether any of the affected airports will be those in Australia.
From Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, passengers can fly non-stop to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas/Fort Worth on Qantas, Virgin Australia, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
All of these flights are potentially affected, so we’d strongly advise travellers to ensure their portable gadgets are charged before heading to the airport.
And, if you're unlucky enough to have 'SSSS' on your boarding pass, you'd best allow a little extra time for security screening too.
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
22 Apr 2013
Total posts 143
Curious. I'm not quite sure I understand the purpose of this - I'm clearly missing something.
I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of anyone with a background in security?
13 Mar 2014
Total posts 27
Would assume that devices that power up are less likely to be an inert device disguised as a bomb
13 Mar 2014
Total posts 27
correction...a bomb disguised as a device
12 Mar 2014
Total posts 128
I'm no expert, but you'd think this comes in response to some specific intelligence, seeing as it's not a uniformly applied measure...
21 Apr 2012
Total posts 3006
I don't know if any of you are sci-fi fans but there used to be this programme called Babylon 5. In the Babylon 5 universe the government had an agency made up of telepaths called Psi Corp. They would be used to screen travellers transiting through the Babylon 5 space station and be present during trade negotiations/business dealings to identify people who were not what they appear to be. They had a strict code of conduct to minimise abuse and ensure privacy.
I wish we had that now! It would be so much easier to deal with these bloody terrorists and yet be politically correct!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Aug 2012
Total posts 2199
There was a joke about the Israelis introducing a new sort of body scanner. The idea was that instead of taking a naked image of you to scan for potential bombs, it would simply put you in a bombproof chamber and then remotely detonate any bomb. This way, terrorists would be blown up before they could get anywhere near the gate.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
13 Sep 2011
Total posts 180
Followed by an anouncement for someone waitlisted on the flight.
24 Apr 2014
Total posts 269
I don't think of that as a joke. I think it's a good idea. A taste of your own medicine - isn't that what used to be said?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Jul 2011
Total posts 1374
But my super new purchase generally won't power up, and Apple is refusing to accept a return.
iPaperBack
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
20 Sep 2013
Total posts 462
RETURN IT>
28 Oct 2011
Total posts 645
some people love to make jokes/whinge about security meassures, along with the 'inconvenience' to our lives!!! .... while the terrorists sit back and laugh/revel at our confusion/inadequacies/blaming eachother...but we lose sight of the fact ,IF WE DIDN'T HAVE TERRORISTS, WE WOULDN'T NEED THESE SECURITY MEASURES
sadly, for as long as there are 'humans' on this planet with the intent to harm/kill other humans...we will need these measures to try to keep us safe
this is not a joke...this is not 'sci fi'...this is sadly our 'lives' nowadays
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
20 Sep 2013
Total posts 462
I agree.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Oct 2013
Total posts 92
Just another measure that won't be evenly and indiscriminately applied by the security contractors just before the US gates in SYD - a few years in, they're still confused about the LAG policies!
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