How airlines are responding to America’s laptop ban
THE recently announced ban on laptops and other large electronic devices on direct flights from Middle Eastern airports to America is bad news for business travellers hoping to get work done on these long journeys. That, in turn, spells trouble for the airlines that fly these routes. Carriers like Emirates, Turkish, Qatar, and Etihad compete for long-haul flyers all over the world. They have just become a little bit less competitive. (Gulliver recently booked a flight from Manila to Washington, DC on Emirates, via Dubai; had he known what was coming, he might well have opted to fly via Tokyo or Beijing instead.)
Turkish Airlines stock tumbled more than 7% after the ban was announced in America. (Britain announced similar restrictions soon after, though crucially the superconnectors' hubs in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Turkey were not included.) Rival airlines, meanwhile, are thrilled at the news. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar currently serve half the travellers flying between India and the United States, for example. Air India now