There are a few things that are confusing about the laptop ban. The first is why have the UK and USA chosen almost completely different set of countries:

• UK:  Egypt,  Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia and Turkey
• USA: Egypt,  Jordan, Kuwait,  Morocco, Qatar,  Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates.

Secondly are the routing anomalies. For example, if I fly Dubai in the UAE to New York JFK direct, I now cannot carry electronics on board. However if,  I fly from Dubai to London and then change on another flight from London to JFK, then I can tap away merrily on both legs.

More bizarrely still if I fly on the Emirates service from Dubai to Milan which goes onto JFK, then the laptop ban also does not cover me. Likewise Dubai-Athens-Newark is exempt from the ban.

I can fly Cairo-Paris-JFK and I don’t need to worry about the ban.  

Thirdly, if I go through the security checks at Abu Dhabi Airport, and then pass through the US Pre-Clearance facility which conducts another pre-boarding security check then I still have to hand over my equipment. Again, if I fly Abu Dhabi to London to JFK then there is no ban. 

Finally, what is the economic impact on thousands of passengers and businesses who are no longer able to complete presentations, evaluations  and contracts in those dead hours on a plane  between cities?

If someone can give me some logical answers, I would be grateful.