Laptop ban on transatlantic flights ‘up to Americans’

BRITISH and European Union officials have failed to kill off a threatened American ban on passengers carrying laptops on transatlantic flights.

High-level talks in Brussels between European aviation and US counter-terrorism officials ended without agreement and with the ban still on the table, sources said. More talks will be held next week in Washington, responding to American fears that bombs could now be concealed in electronic devices and taken inside the cabin of an aircraft.

Europe is lobbying hard against any ban, which would affect hundreds of flights a day, and make passengers check any device larger than a smartphone into the hold.

A senior Whitehall source said: “No one in Europe wants the ban and they are lobbying hard against it, but the talks didn’t come to a decision.

“In all honesty it remains completely up to the Americans.”

Thomas de Maizière, the German interior minister, said last night that he shared the US’S concerns about additional security risks to the aviation industry. But he added: “I hope we will have a common solution and not a unilateral one by the United States.” Airlines fear expanding the ban, which currently applies to flights from 10 Middle Eastern airports, will lead to more delays and increase their liability for theft or damage to electronics devices in checked luggage.

Safety advocates worry that putting devices with lithium batteries in the cargo hold will create a fire threat.

European officials and airlines have proposed alternatives including more use of machines that detect residue from explosives, and turning devices on to demonstrate they are not bombs.

The International Air Transport Association, a trade group for global airlines, has estimated that banning laptops in the cabin on transatlantic flights would cost as much as £850 million a year in lost productivity for business travellers.