There have also been concerns about the safety of laptops and large electronic devices in the cargo hold. Picture: AFP/Getty Images North America/John Moore

The large electronics ban, which is expected to extend to flights bound for the United States from Europe in the near future, including those from Australia, has had an impact on ticket sales as business travellers are both reluctant to surrender their personal electronics containing confidential information as well as well as lose hours of productivity during flying.

Instead, companies are preferring employees to use online meeting platforms as opposed to travelling abroad and facing the risks involved.

There may be a decrease in business travel as a result of the laptop ban, and the costs could be passed onto passengers. Picture: AP/Peter Dejong, fileSource:AP

Not only are business travellers left wondering what to do with all those hours with nothing to do, but now that more airlines have opted to do away with seat back video monitors in favour of Wi-Fi-based content, most people will be left scrambling for a good book or watching the clouds pass by. (On second thought, this isn’t sounding so bad.)

But what does sound bad is the potential impact that the expanded ban will have on ticket sales. Alexandre de Juniac, who heads the International Air Transport Association, estimates that passengers will end up shouldering about $1.34 billion in costs.

And as airlines are suffering a PR crisis that companies as well as politicians are scrambling to remedy by ending practices such as overbooking and cramming fewer seats into cabins, we are likely to see ticket prices reach highs we haven’t seen in years.

There have also been concerns about the safety of laptops and large electronic devices in the cargo hold. Picture: AFP/Getty Images North America/John MooreSource:AFP

The other very realistic worry is that of lithium battery fires in the cargo hold. These high-energy fires have been a growing concern for the airlines, and it’s become more evident as warnings regarding mobile phones and other devices being crushed in seats have even made their way into some airline pre-flight safety briefings. There’s good reason for this, as these fires can develop quickly and take longer to extinguish. For this to take place in the cargo hold of an aeroplane instead of a cabin full of people could result in tragedy — and is already thought to have been the cause of two fatal crashes.

Few us are privy to the intelligence that is bringing this new security practice about, but one can only hope that this ban has a point. Too much of airport security these days seems to be for show, and if this ban is purely to lull us into a false sense of security, it will be responsible for much more harm than good. The impact that this ban could directly have on aircraft safety as well as the industry and economy is too great. People often say that the terrorists win only when we live our lives in fear, and I can only wonder if this is a battle checked off in their favour.

This article was originally published in FlyerTalk.