
There was a bit of concern recently over the fact that the Nintendo Switch was included in a UK and US travel ban on flights originating from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia.
The ban states that smartphones must be smaller than 16cm x 9.3cm x 1.5cm to be taken aboard by hand, while all laptops and tablets must be stowed in the hold.
However, The Department for Transport has now revealed that the Switch is not included in this ban. While it exceeds the measurements when the Joy-Con controllers are attached, the base unit falls within the suggested measurements, which presumably explains why it is exempt.
Sadly, this only applies to UK-bound flights - the Switch will not be allowed on planes headed to the US from the listed countries.
The ban comes into force on Saturday.
[source digitalspy.com]
Comments 37
No need for anyone so to fly off the handle.
And like I said before, what are the odds of anyone with a Switch flying to and from almost all of those countries anyway? It's only Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia which are really holiday destinations after all.
Woohoo! Screw you Trump! Nice try there Theresa May! Screw you both! Woohoo!
@Baker1000 and great holiday destinations they are.
@Baker1000 Indeed. If they stick to these countries, that's fine.
But in my experience agents will often overcorrect (because the direction they're given is often spotty or nonexistent so they figure better safe than sorry), and will crack down on more than just those flights "just in case."
Traditionally, they ignore gaming devices anyway though.
I wonder if they'll change their mind once they know that Super Bomberman R is on the Switch
I'm still a bit confused..... Doesn't take much in fairness haha
I'm travelling to Florida in June from the UK... Can I take my switch on the plane with me??
The way im reading the article suggests that it will be fine to use it on the flight home coming back to the UK but not on the way there
Have I got that right or an i being stupid?
The last thing I want to do is have my switch taken off me by customs I'm Manchester airport 😱
Edit..... The article seems to have been updated now..... I'm guessing that cause I'm not flying from one of those listed countries I should be fine
@Dakt I went Egypt and Tunisia in 2010 and turkey 2012. Was great. I'm sure it's still great in the tourist based sites
@MrYuzhai yes I'm sure they both had a say sarcasm
I get most of them but Lebanon? Seriously? lol
Lol so basically I can play the Switch from Dubai to the Philippines, but on a U.S. flight at all... Wow.. If it's a safety precaution then I totally understand.
Modern society is sad..
@Dakt @UK-Nintendo @Baker1000
I got Nintendo Switch and i live in Turkey. Every year I went to EU and UK (how i get my Switch) and i planned next one. This is good news for me and lots of Turkish Nintendo Switch owners, and Turkey has great places for tourists.. I am sure Egypt too.. In conclusion, safety is important, politics are bad and we fight against terorism too.. and i want to play Switch when i am going to UK
As an Egyptian who flies to Egypt often this ban bothered me But luckily i fly to Canada and not the US. I will point out however that Egypt is quite a big tourist destination from Europeans and those from the UK. It's unfortunate that tourism took a dive in Egypt... I also wanted to point out that Not all Egyptians are Muslims and there is still 15 million Christians.
@Baker1000
I think tourism to Turkey might be on the decline. "Brand new dictatorship" doesn't sell those brochures so well.
All countries on Earth have unique and wonderful places to travel. I am surprised to read that people think otherwise. Maybe, they should change planet.
@UK-Nintendo
Yeah as long as you stick to the toursist places in Tunisia it's fine.
Just avoid this one (the food is terrible):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/16/tunisia-beach-massacre-inquests-due-begin/
@Dezzy Government try about dictatorship.. But we the people will say No
@Equinox yeah... well they (some of them) are racists, don't allow Israelis in and they sponsor terrorism and jihad, but other than that, wonderful. Oh yeah no "nudity" on beaches and alcohol in some of the Islamic ones either. Fun!
@Equinox
I live in Canada but fly to Egypt
Frankly I think the U.S. has bigger problems from dealing with agitated parents and their kids when they discover they have to spend hours upon hours with screaming children confined on a plane unable to watch a video on their iPads. LOL...now that's true terror.
Just measured the tablet, and it's 17.2 cm x 10.1 cm x 1.4 cm. Two of those dimensions fall outside of the parameters, so maybe those dimensions only apply to phones, and video game handhelds just aren't meant to be included in the ban.
@dumedum : You sound like you've had your brain bleached by Murdoch, Fairfax et al. Those most devastated by terrorism are Muslims, and hundreds, if not thousands, are killed around the world indiscriminately on a daily basis, but hey, they're just "collateral damage", "they're used to it", or the classic "oh, it's just the way things are in that part of the world" that spoiled brats blurt out in their cold indifference. God, there's no absence of a lack of humanity in people nowadays, is there? And incidentally, 'Jihad' in Arabic literally means 'struggle' and can encompass any trial or difficulty. Raising a child is jihad, going to work to earn an honest living is jihad, exercising patience in the face of adversity is jihad. The word is primarily used to indicate a struggle in the way of God, so trying to beat Zelda II probably doesn't constitute jihad. Trust the press to take a beautiful word and pervert it into something so wretched and evil, and trust those who believe in them without seeking the truth for themselves to just regurgitate rhetoric and debase an entire people on a whim. Stay out of the Middle East if that's what you want. I don't much care for travelling myself, and my only incentive to go to Turkey is to see my relatives.
It wasn't all that long ago when showing skin above the ankle was considered scandalous in the States and look where we are now. Department stores now sell lingerie to infants!
And concerns about public nudity are mostly exaggerated. You won't be harassed so long as you reserve your lack of modesty to a beach that accomodates nudity. I was surprised to have walked past a (partially) nude beach while I was in Turkey a couple of years ago (occupied mostly by saggy retireess). If your only means of recreation is getting naked and intoxicated, then you needn't travel to the ends of the Earth for that. I'm sure your local club/bar would be happy to accommodate your desires.
So, i'm from Indonesia can take my Switch on the plane as long the destinations are not the banned list, right ? (Let's say I want to take my Switch goes to Singapore / Japan / Hong Kong / Australia / Jakarta / Malaysia )
Even just the notion of banning the use of an awesome gaming device like the Switch on planes (where it's basically in its element)—due to some absurd fear that "terrorists" are going to use it to hide bombs and blow up planes—is just utterly ridiculous to me.
@Dezzy yea I went sousse. Must be different now.
@sillygostly Not sure we should talk politically here but here you go (Moderators - feel free to delete everything). You are wrong. You are wrong and clueless and you are misleading. I lived with Arabs and Muslims IN the Middle East. It is called Israel, the most free liberal country in the Middle East. I suffered consequences of Islamic Jihad terrorism. Arabs murdered, killed, and Jihad means something very specific. It means charity and struggle and bullshit but it also means killing infidels, and killing them joyfully. They are intolerant towards women, towards gay and the islamic jihad doctrine is a cancer in western societies everywhere. So you are the one brainwashed by Islam/libertardism.
Turkey is a good example. Of course they had "nude" beaches. It was a great country - Israelis love(d) it. It is supposed to constitutionally be a secular country. But it is now abducted by radical crazy Muslims. The same thing they did in Lebanon. And the same thing they do basically everywhere radical Muslims go. If you are not a Muslim you can hardly visit Saudi Arabia, you are banned from some areas... if you are a woman, you can't drive there. Some Muslim countries execute gay people. And you would be surprised - many people like to have a drink during their tourism. Not important to me, but cannot complain why people don't want to go there when they can't have a bit of fun.
@impurekind it's really not. Some people will go into extreme "ridiculous" stuff like that. You name it some terrorist already attempted it somewhere (For example, using toddlers/babies/pregnant women/gifts by husbands and fiances to their loved ones).
@Equinox It is 100% racist (even worse, and has nothing to do with Crimea even remotely), but agree to disagree.
I will say it again - Politics is irrelevant. If intelligence says there are risks flying from those countries, then I won't doubt them. A device detonated in the hold is always safer than one detonated in the cabin.
@Vitesse No, it's really not. A device detonated in the hold would result in the likely death of all passengers, all the same. Airplanes are incredibly sensitive things, surprisingly they can lose an engine and still fly, but compromise the hull and it's going down.
You can detonate that bomb anywhere you like, it will take the plane down and likely kill everyone aboard.
There is no actual threat of tablets and laptops being used as a bomb, it's security theater.
@dumedum
People really need to start getting their terminology straight. Israel is not a race. Blocking israelis is therefore not racism.
Likewise, the various countries trying to be blocked by Trump are also not a race. Blocking them is not racism either.
The differences in the concepts of nationality, race, religion and culture, really are important differences.
This whole "lets call everything a race" is confusing silliness.
Nowadays I might as well just call my own family a race. Therefore anyone who's rude to us is racist. Madness ensues when words stop meaning something.
@dumedum : You've been brianwashed by Wahhabism (also known as Salafism), which is a movement that had arisen from Saudi Arabia (and backed by Britain) in the 18th century, and I've had the unfortunately displeasure of meeting people who affiliate with the movement, and in my powerlessness to sway the blackened hearts of the closed-minded, I keep my distance from such people. As far as I'm concerned, they are as Muslim as Zionists are Jewish. I had no intention of talking "politics", as my interest lies in the betterment of humanity, I was critiquing your sweeping generalisations about the morality of an entire people, and while there may be some stupid trigger-happy demons out there who feel that they have the right to kill indiscriminately, it is not a practice that is permitted, and there sure as hell isn't anything "Islamic" about it. The Prophet invited the Christians to pray in the mosque (in whatever manner that they saw fit) during his time, for God's sake.
And Saudi is the worst example you can use to describe anything "Islamic". Have you any idea how hedonistic the royal families are? Hell, I do not believe that royalty or excess indulgence has a place in any religion, and the Vatican are hardly any different in their hedonism (though I won't judge or disparage the entirety of the Catholic people over their actions! Nor would I judge the entirety of the English for the atrocities that were committed in the name of "colonialism"). The Saudis comprise only 1.5% of all Muslims, and if not being able to visit is affecting you that much (why?!), then you need to reassess your priorities. If it were not for the fact that the pilgrimage to Mecca makes up one fifth of the Pillars of Islam, I would never want to set foot in that awful country or make any sort of contribution to their economy. The issues at hand are far more complex than what can be compressed into mere off-topic forum posts, and we as the wider public are not privy to all of the facts.
"Killing infidels?" I don't know what your definition of an "infidel" is, but Christians and Jews are by definition, not "infidels", they are named as the People of the Book in the Qur'an. "Kaffir" specifically refers to traitors who threaten the lives of others and spread mischief in the land, and even they may only be killed in self-defense. You can't just go around killing people willy-nilly because you merely suspect someone of being an "infidel" (though the Saudi Wahhabis would like you to think otherwise). And somebody cannot be killed/vilified/attacked for merely being suspected of, even if they themselves identify as gay (I reiterate, the unfortunate reality is that what the religion commands, and how some, supposed "adherents" of the faith behave, are disparate matters entirely).
I would like to go into more detail, but I have already veered way off-topic, and this is hardly the place to be engaging in topics that may not be appropriate to discuss here. Making baseless generalisations, however, is counterintuitive and more troublingly... divisive. You claim I'm brainwashed when I haven't been making any generalisations (you immediately dismissed me as a "libtard"), and you seem to have me all figured out without having known me, which brings me to why I felt compelled to respond, because your prejudices have brought you to hate me without even knowing me. I have at least disclosed my nationalities (Australian/Turkish), ethnicity and religion. You have not extended the same courtesy, perhaps fearing that others would make assumptions about you. You have basically accused me, in so many words, of being a violent, bigoted lunatic (or a sympathiser to such-inclined people), so don't be so surprised that I would take such allegations personally. I have said what I needed to say and I will not discuss this matter with you further (at least not on Nintendo Life) for the sake of respecting the community rules (apologies to the mods). My NL profile contains the information you need to contact me should you wish to speak about this matter further. Peace.
@sillygostly Way too long to read everything and not the place. I am a Jew and a Zionist. Judaism = Zionism and I can explain that to you if you want. You are also wrong about everything my friend. 😃
@Equinox @dezzy it is really not an important distinction as you seem to think it is. It is antisemitism and that is generally regraded as a form of racism. Jews were treated as a race in the past by Nazis for example. Words don't always mean what they literally mean. For examples antisemitism is not anti Semites people (which includes Arabs). It is anti Jews. That's what the word means just not literally. Homophobia is not really fear of gays. It is being anti gay. And so on. Hardcore gamers? Shovelware?
@UK-Nintendo Never been, but I wouldn't choose them as dream destinations with how things are at present.
@Equinox I'm not conufsing anything. You just have no idea what you're talking about so you're clueless about the whole subject. It's like me talking about nuclear physics. You are clueless.
@Equinox okay, keep dreaming and lying. I only spoke of radicals. Youre not interesting. Bye bye.
@MrYuzhai Sorry just asking so it's confirmed that we will be able to take the switch back from these countries? Im going Turkey and return back to the UK, hoping to play it on the plane, would you have to detach the 2 controls or something?
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