Advantage Air India as US curbs carriage of laptops, ipads from the Gulf

The US government's restrictions on carriage of electronic items, laptops, and iPads from 10 airports in West Asia (Middle East) and North Africa will benefit Air India and European airlines. Going by the directive, all US-bound passengers originating or transiting through airports like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Doha will have to carry these devices in checked luggage only.

The move augurs well for India. At present, Air India flies non-stop from Delhi and Mumbai to New York, Newark, Chicago, and San Francisco. It flies one-stop to Newark via London and plans to launch a non-stop service between Delhi-Washington from July.

United Airlines, too, flies non-stop from Newark to Delhi and Mumbai. Additionally, passengers travel to the US via airports in Gulf, East Asia, or Europe. Airlines from the Gulf heavily rely on

Indian market to fill up their US flights.

According to a Centre for Aviation report of 2015, passengers from India account for a third of all passengers on Gulf airlines' US routes. Air India and Emirates are top carriers on India-US routes and the US Transport Security Administration move will create new business opportunities for the national carrier.

"Air India could become a preferred carrier on the India-US routes and this could help us increase business-class loads," said an Air India spokesperson. "There could be a shift of traffic away from the hubs in Gulf to Europe," an executive of a Gulf airline remarked.

Another cause of anxiety for the Middle East (West Asia) airlines has been the US’s plans to make issue of H1B visa tougher. Software professionals from India fly a lot to the US.

Air India