EU/US: EU protests against adding transatlantic flights to US laptop ban

The EU has protested strongly against a proposed extension of a US ban on laptops on transatlantic flights from some of Europe’s biggest airports, warning that it could pose a risk to flight safety. EU officials have also called on Washington to be more open in sharing security information that would justify enlarging the scope of the ban that the US authorities imposed earlier on flights to US cities from certain airports in the Middle East. In a conference call with John Kelly, US secretary for homeland security, the EU’s transport and migration commissioners warned of the “potential safety implications of putting a large number of electronic devices in the aircraft hold” if they were not allowed in the cabin. European regulators are concerned that placing hundreds of lithium-ion batteries in an enclosed space such as an aircraft hold could pose a serious fire risk. Under UN rules, passengers are not allowed spare lithium-ion batteries in the hold after flight safety experts found that when packed tightly together, they can self-ignite and burn. Overheated batteries can also give off fumes and explode on board. The European Aviation Safety Agency advises airlines that large electronic items such as laptops “should preferably be carried in the passenger cabin, on the person or in the carry-on baggage” in order to mitigate the risk of fire. One European aviation official said that moving a laptop into the hold would make “no difference” if a bomb were hidden inside it, adding “cabin luggage is scanned more rigorously than hold luggage — some hold bags are not scanned at all”. EU officials were particularly keen to understand why the US was insisting on an extension of the ban when European agencies see no imminent threat at hand.<br/>