Once more the U.S. will allow passengers flying to U.S. airports from regions including the Middle East to carry laptops and other electronic devices on board. The lifting of the ban is subject to carriers from the region implementing stricter security controls, which include stricter baggage screening and the installation of explosives trace detection measures including explosives-detecting scanners and bomb-sniffing dogs at the airports.
The ban on laptops and other personal electronic devices (PEDs) larger than a smartphone was initially introduced in March this year as fears mounted over IS terrorists hiding explosives in batteries and battery compartments. The ban extended to carriers flying to the U.S. from ten airports in eight predominantly Muslim countries: Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey, with airlines affected including Royal Jordanian Airlines; Egypt Air; Turkish Airlines; Saudi Arabian Airlines; Kuwait Airways; Royal Air Maroc; Qatar Airways and Emirates.
Etihad was the first airline to be exempted from March's ban, while it has been confirmed that Saudi Arabia is the last to obtain exemption.
The original ban had met with strong opposition, not only because of its disruptive nature, especially for business-class passengers, but also because lithium batteries have long been seen as a fire risk and thus posed a greater threat if stored in the cargo section of a plane than in the cabin. The European Aviation Safety Agency had already expressed concern with the electronics ban on trans-Atlantic flights because of this risk of accidental fire, which it said would be even more difficult to contain if the electronic device was in the cargo section.
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Mailing Address
AviTrader Publications Corp.
Suite 305, South Tower
5811 Cooney Road
Richmond, BC V6X 3M1
Canada