Washington – The United States is banning large electronic devices from airliner cabins on direct flights out of Middle Eastern airports in eight countries, under new security measures revealed Tuesday.
The Homeland Security Department notified airlines early Tuesday and set a deadline to comply no later than 1200 GMT Saturday.
Some of the Middle Eastern airlines flying direct routes to the United States from the 10 listed airports have said they will comply by Friday.
Others issued announcements that implied they were enforcing the policy immediately.
Homeland Security posted documents Tuesday saying that US intelligence authorities suspect terrorist groups of continuing “to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items.”
“Based on this trend, the Transportation Security Administration, in consultation with relevant departments and agencies, has determined it is prudent to enhance security, to include airport security procedures for passengers at certain last-point-of-departure airports to the United States,” the post said.
Adam Schiff, the top opposition Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was briefed on the new rules, which he called “both necessary and proportional.”
Emirates Airlines said in a statement that the new measures were valid from Saturday until October 14 on US-bound routes from Dubai.
Homeland Security’s public documents made no mention of an end date.
“The new procedures remain in place until the threat changes,” the department said. “These are risk-based decisions and TSA continuously assesses security risks and seeks to balance necessary security requirements with their operational impact on the industry.”
EgyptAir said it would begin banning large electronics on its Cairo-to-New York flights starting Friday, after receiving new travel instructions from US authorities.
The airline reported receipt of an email from John F Kennedy airport, where its Cairo-to-New York flight lands, providing “instructions to ban laptops, tablets, cameras, CD players and video game devices on board starting from flight 985, which leaves to New York Friday morning.”
The ban applies to “all personal electronic devices larger than a cell phone or smart phone.” Such devices must be placed in checked baggage, except approved medical devices, which can be brought into cabins after additional screening.
The 10 affected airports, all in Muslim-majority countries, are Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Casablanca, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul, Jeddah, Kuwait City and Riyadh.
Later Tuesday, Britain said it would follow the United States by banning laptops and other larger electronic devices from passenger cabins on some inbound flights from Middle Eastern and African nations.
Prime Minister Theresa May “has chaired a number of meetings on aviation security over the last few weeks, including this morning, where it was agreed that new aviation security measures on all inbound direct flights to the UK from the following countries will be introduced: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia,” her office said Tuesday.
The US move follows President Donald Trump’s 90-day ban on most travellers from Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and a 120-day halt to refugee approvals from around the world.
Washington is hosting a meeting Wednesday allies in the international coalition against the Islamic State movement, with a large number of arrivals from Muslim and Arab countries.
Turkish Transportation Minister Ahmet Arslan said the US measure was “not the correct decision,” arguing that business travellers in particular should not be separated from work devices on the long-haul flights, which can stretch for 12 hours.
He said he had initiated contacts with US authorities over the issue and warned of negative impacts on both travel through Turkey and US-Turkish relations.
The White House defended the laptop ban.
“I can’t talk about the intelligence that we have,” said Sean Spicer, spokesman for Trump. “I can just tell you that the steps that are being taken are appropriate commensurate with the intelligence that we have.”
-dpa
