THE ban on taking large electronic devices into plane cabins, imposed on March 20th by the United States on flights from ten Middle Eastern airports, is a particular headache for the four “superconnector” airlines. Etihad, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, like many carriers, depend on premium travellers for their profits. Those in business-class cabins like to get work done on long journeys; that is difficult without a computer. But, as their epithet implies, these airlines are also unusually dependent on on connecting traffic. By one estimate, 60% of Emirates flyers use Dubai as a layover on the way to somewhere else. As of last week, travellers heading, for example, from New York to Mumbai, must now choose between a superconnecter flight on which they will be without their tablets and laptops, or connecting through Europe on a European or United States airline which is not affected by the ban. (Or, perhaps, an Emirates flight connecting in Milan, which would also be exempt.) It is a fair bet that many are choosing to avoid the Middle Eastern hubs.

It felt a logical step, therefore, when Qatar Airways announced on March 31st that it is to lend laptops to premium-class flyers travelling to or from America. Business travellers, it says, can download their work onto a USB stick just before boarding, and will receive a complimentary computer when they reach the cabin. That is then handed back at the end of the flight.

The other three superconnectors will surely follow suit. In the meantime, they are testing other solutions. Etihad, for example, has so-far stopped short of offering laptops, but has said that from April 2nd, it will give premium-class passengers on their way to the United States free use of an iPad and free access to the plane’s Wi-Fi. Emirates, meanwhile, has introduced a laptop-handling service, allowing passengers to use their devices until just before boarding, when the airline collects them and packs them into the hold. This means that flyers can have their computers returned when they connect onto a flight that does not include America. Whether any of this will be enough to persuade passengers to stick with the carriers remains to be seen. The airlines and their passengers would obviously prefer life without the hassle.

As yet, there has been little indication of when the restrictions might be lifted. But patience may be required. As a fellow Gulliver recently noted, when it comes to air safety, flyers should be prepared to give security services the benefit of the doubt. Clearly they have access to intelligence that the rest of us do not. Their primary responsibility is to keep flyers in one piece.

That trust, however, must not be abused. To the outsider, it seems odd that British and American security services, presumably acting on the same information, have come to different conclusions about which airports and carriers are at most risk from terrorist attack. There may be sound reasons for that. However, some think it fishy that the superconnectors’ hubs have been included in the United States ban but not the British one: big American carriers have for years demanded the government protect them from what they claim is unfair competition from Etihad, Emirates and the others. If it turns out there were a political motive behind the inclusion of these airlines, then the trust that the security forces command will be eroded. Once travellers start to doubt their authority, it will be harder for them to keep us safe in the future.