Transportation Ministry: Laptop, Mobile Phones Allowed Onboard

The Ministry of Transportation stated that there was no ban for passengers on carrying electronic devices such as laptop and mobile phones onboard. However, a more rigorous examination shall be applied both with X-Ray and manually. “Electronic devices are allowed onboard. However, they must be examined thoroughly. The examination of electronic devices should have been conducted in the airports before the passengers board the aircraft,” said Director General of Civil Aviation of the Ministry of Transportation Agus Santoso through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Facebook fan page, on Saturday (1/4).

The Director General emphasized that aviation security is an integral part of aviation safety. To that end, securing items that could potentially interfere with flight safety must be tightened, including on electronic devices that will be taken into the aircraft cabin.

More stringent security measures, namely the ban on carrying laptop and electronic devices that are larger than a mobile phone in the cabin, have already been undertaken by the Governments of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom against several specific flights from airports in certain countries in the Middle East and Turkey bound for the airports in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

But to date, according to Agus, Indonesia does not have rules on the prohibition of carrying a laptop and electronic devices that are larger than a mobile phone into the cabin. “For the time being, these electronic devices are allowed to be brought to the cabin but must be removed from the bag and examined through an X-ray machine,” he said. 

Examination Procedure

Through its twitter account @djpu151, the DGCA explained that electronic devices to be brought by passengers to board the aircraft must be inspected thoroughly by X-Ray and manually. “Laptops and other electronic devices of the same size should be removed from the bag/luggage and checked through the X-Ray machine,” the DGCA said.

Should the examination using X-ray machine made the X-ray operator unsure, then a manual check would be performed.

The manual checks to be performed by the officer are as follows: 1. Prospective passenger/owner must turn the electronic devices on; 2. Prospective passenger/owner will be required to operate the electronic devices; 3. Aviation security personnel will supervise and see the results of the examination of the devices. “So once again, NO BAN on carrying a laptop or other electronic devices into the aircraft cabin. It is the security check that will be tightened,” the DGCA explained in its tweet on Saturday (1/4).

Separately, the Ministry of Transportation through its twitter account @kemenhub151 also emphasized that there is no prohibition on carrying a laptop or mobile phones to the aircraft cabin. The truth is, it is compulsory for every passenger who carries laptops and other electronic devices to remove these items from the bag and examined by X-Ray. “Do not get surprised if in the future the examination will be more rigorous at the airport. This is for the safety and security of us together,” the tweet stated.

To that end, the Ministry of Transportation suggested people who use air transport services to seek to arrive at the airport earlier because such checks will possibly be time consuming which would lead to queues. “So there is no prohibiton on carrying a laptop or other electronic devices onboard, just the examination being tightened,” the Ministry of Transportation firmly said. (ES) (MUR/YM/Naster).