It’s not often that the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy directly affects dance music fans across the country, but this could very well is one of those times. In a new announcement aimed at limiting potential incidents of mid-flight fire hazards from lithium batteries, the DHS is set to announce a laptop ban (and general electronics ban) for all flights coming into the United States from Europe.
While such an electronics ban already exists against all incoming flights from 10 countries – mostly of Muslim-majority – this marks the first instance of said legislation expanding outside the original parameters that President Trump gave back in March. The original legislation was intended to curb potential terrorist activity amongst growing fears that it’s becoming harder to detect concealed bombs within electronics.
While there’s no official announcement just yet about which particular airports based in Europe or the exact electronics aside from laptops that will no longer be allowed in the main cabin, European and American aviation officials are expecting it to come shortly.
As many of you know, a lot of producers carry their laptops with them in carry-on luggage when they tour so that they can continue making music on the road. Some producers even use it as a part of their live setups. With this ban in mind, touring acts will potentially be forced to pack their laptops into checked baggage and, while that certainly prevents them from being able to use them in flight or at the gate, there’s also the fear that the device could potentially break or be misplaced in the event of a lost baggage situation.
Either way, this act certainly has many implications for touring acts based in Europe, and there’s a lot of them mind you. At this time the White House has yet to comment on the potential ban.
H/T: Reuters | Featured Image Source: Ewan Robertson
