Dubai Airport Confiscating Extension Leads - Why?

[chickencurry]

Anyone have any idea why Dubai security is confiscating extension leads from hand luggage? They (drawer full of them) will go to charity, Emirati security lady chimed. Oh really, we said. Is this barmy or what?

[Farma]

I found this mention of new hand luggage restrictions from November. No mention of extension leads in the article.

Airport to enforce new rules on hand luggage in Dubai

October 24, 2007 | By rajajang In Dubai News |

Passengers flying from all terminals of Abu Dhabi International Airport will face new restrictions on what they can carry in their hand luggage from November.The new measures will apply to all flights and will restrict the amount of liquids, aerosols and gels a passenger can carry to 100ml each.

This will bring the airport into compliance with the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Authority.

No container of liquids, aerosols or gels that is larger than 100ml will be allowed on board, even if it is half full.

All containers must also be placed in a transparent resealable bag with a maximum capacity of one litre.

Only one bag will be allowed per passenger.

Exemptions will be made for medications, baby food and special dietary items.

Travellers will still be able to purchase larger items at duty free shops or retail outlets inside the airport or on board flights, as long as these are accompanied by a receipt and packed in a sealed transparent security bag by staff.

These measures have already been in place in Terminal Two of the airport since June.

According to a spokesperson from the Airport Operations Department, implementation was “generally smooth”.

The spokesperson said: “Traffic flow is smooth, and all flights leave perfectly on time, thanks to the collective efforts of all organisations operating at the airport.”

[lazeeboy]

Anyone have any idea why Dubai security is confiscating extension leads from hand luggage? They (drawer full of them) will go to charity, Emirati security lady chimed. Oh really, we said. Is this barmy or what?

i suppose these leads could be used as a weapon ,why would you want an extension cable on a plane ,theres no sockets

[Shrubbery]

Anyone have any idea why Dubai security is confiscating extension leads from hand luggage? They (drawer full of them) will go to charity, Emirati security lady chimed. Oh really, we said. Is this barmy or what?

One does have to ask the question, "Why would someone want to carry an extension lead in their hand baggage"

I'm assuming it was an electrical lead rather than a "doggy" lead.

If it was the latter, I could perhaps understand why the Arabs confiscated it. Just warn the camels.

Edited November 2, 2007 by Shrubbery

[tw25rw]

Anyone have any idea why Dubai security is confiscating extension leads from hand luggage? They (drawer full of them) will go to charity, Emirati security lady chimed. Oh really, we said. Is this barmy or what?

i suppose these leads could be used as a weapon ,why would you want an extension cable on a plane ,theres no sockets

Depends on the airline and the class.. I often use my laptop on the plane.

[rak sa_ngop]

I passed through Dubai a few months ago and was carrying a few bicycle tools (only had hand luggage). The first security check didn't spot anything on the X-ray, but the second security check spotted the tools (had to reenter to get to transit desk).

After deliberation they let me off with the small spanner and hex-keys but confiscated my small roll of black plastic electrical tape. I didn't complain as tape is cheap.

[chickencurry]

Anyone have any idea why Dubai security is confiscating extension leads from hand luggage? They (drawer full of them) will go to charity, Emirati security lady chimed. Oh really, we said. Is this barmy or what?

i suppose these leads could be used as a weapon ,why would you want an extension cable on a plane ,theres no sockets

Well, yes, husband said he could have cheerfully strangled the woman with the extension lead (no only joking). He carries it in hand luggage just in case hold luggage goes missing (needed for presentations along with projector, laptop etc etc).

Upshot was we stood our ground (husband is emotionally attached to his extension lead which has travelled with him for years) and got frogmarched back through immigration to check the very dangerous extension lead into the hold. Lady at Thai business check-in grinned and, with eyes to heaven, produced a cardboard box for it and plastered it with priority stickers. She had obviously seen a lot of this.

Then after that our flight to BKK got delayed by 6 hours so missed our connection to Singapore. Didn't expect to see the cardboard box again and very surprised to see it (eventually) on the conveyor belt at Changi. (Moral victory for common sense.)

[Rinrada]

I passed through Dubai a few months ago and was carrying a few bicycle tools (only had hand luggage). The first security check didn't spot anything on the X-ray, but the second security check spotted the tools (had to reenter to get to transit desk).

After deliberation they let me off with the small spanner and hex-keys but confiscated my small roll of black plastic electrical tape. I didn't complain as tape is cheap.

Same with neon screwdrivers.....

[Naam]

Anyone have any idea why Dubai security is confiscating extension leads from hand luggage? They (drawer full of them) will go to charity, Emirati security lady chimed. Oh really, we said. Is this barmy or what?

i suppose these leads could be used as a weapon ,why would you want an extension cable on a plane ,theres no sockets

oh yes, there "is" sockets on a number of aircrafts when you fly business or first

but you don't need any extensions for them if you use a laptop.

Edited November 3, 2007 by Naam

[davee58]

Anyone have any idea why Dubai security is confiscating extension leads from hand luggage? They (drawer full of them) will go to charity, Emirati security lady chimed. Oh really, we said. Is this barmy or what?

i suppose these leads could be used as a weapon ,why would you want an extension cable on a plane ,theres no sockets

oh yes, there "is" sockets on a number of aircrafts when you fly business or first

but you don't need any extensions for them if you use a laptop.

You need an extension flying Economy class.

Run it through to one of the sockets in Business so you can use your laptop!!

[mikbro]

Anyone have any idea why Dubai security is confiscating extension leads from hand luggage? They (drawer full of them) will go to charity, Emirati security lady chimed. Oh really, we said. Is this barmy or what?

i suppose these leads could be used as a weapon ,why would you want an extension cable on a plane ,theres no sockets

Well, yes, husband said he could have cheerfully strangled the woman with the extension lead (no only joking). He carries it in hand luggage just in case hold luggage goes missing (needed for presentations along with projector, laptop etc etc).

Upshot was we stood our ground (husband is emotionally attached to his extension lead which has travelled with him for years) and got frogmarched back through immigration to check the very dangerous extension lead into the hold. Lady at Thai business check-in grinned and, with eyes to heaven, produced a cardboard box for it and plastered it with priority stickers. She had obviously seen a lot of this.

Then after that our flight to BKK got delayed by 6 hours so missed our connection to Singapore. Didn't expect to see the cardboard box again and very surprised to see it (eventually) on the conveyor belt at Changi. (Moral victory for common sense.)

So does he carry his laptop, projector etc. as hand luggage too, seems and awful lot of bulk. Or are they in the hold?

In which case why not just put the extension lead with the laptop, projector etc. in the hold, after all extension leads are a small fraction of the value of the rest of the equipment.

Maybe Dubai need all these leads to get power to the 'The World'

[Kaojai]

I found this mention of new hand luggage restrictions from November. No mention of extension leads in the article.

Airport to enforce new rules on hand luggage in Dubai

October 24, 2007 | By rajajang In Dubai News |

Passengers flying from all terminals of Abu Dhabi International Airport

Since Abu Dhabi International Airport isn't in Dubai, this is a little strangely worded. The Federal Aviation rules are probably uniformly applied, but I always found Abu Dhabi customs and security people to be more intrusive than those in Dubai.

I once carried a measuring tape, the kind that winds up in its own case, and had that confiscated in Dubai. I suppose it or the electrical cord/lead could be use as a garrotte.

[Pseacraft]

I work in Abu Dhabi and make the BKK - AUH run frequently. The two airports, AUH & Dubia do not use the same rules. As the UAE is a very loose associated central government with the individual emirates controling things differently. And I do mean differently. Not much of anything is standardized other than they are always in the right no matter how wrong they are - even by their own rules. I had to start checking my beanbag dash mount for my Garmin GPS as they thought it too closely resembled something really bad (Charlie 4). Having worked an x-ray inspection machine before I found that kind of silly but no big deal. Extension cords sounds a bit rash. If not them, then why power adapters, and other wiring for computer equipage and DVD/CD/MP3 players?

Last thing I'll do is check my computer and other fragile highly pilferable items.

pseacraft

[Kaojai]

As the UAE is a very loose associated central government with the individual emirates controling things differently.

The two airports, AUH & Dubia do not use the same rules.

pseacraft

Yes, I understand that. I lived in Al Ain, which is in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, for 10 years, but generally flew out of Dubai.

While the Emirates do operate quite independently, there still is a Federal government and there is a General Civil Aviation Authority, which

is a federal, autonomous body set up to oversee all aviation-related activities in the United Arab Emirates.

and the item quoted in the Dubai News (never heard of that one) stated:

This will bring the airport into compliance with the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Authority.