By Nelson Wyatt

MONTREAL (Reuters) – An international airline trade organization on Tuesday denounced the Trump administration ban on some electronics on direct flights from several Muslim-majority countries, criticizing the policy as a move toward “more restricted borders and protectionism.”

Speaking to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), questioned the efficacy of the ban, which prohibits electronics larger than a cellphone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa.

“The current measures are not an acceptable long-term solution to whatever threat they are trying to mitigate,” de Juniac said. “Even in the short term it is difficult to understand their effectiveness.”

MORE:   http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/iata-criticizes-trump-administration-electronics-ban-as-ineffective/43066586

(Reporting by Nelson Wyatt in Montreal and Alana Wise in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)