Emirates, Turkish Airways lift electronics ban on flights to US: reports

 

A three-month-old ban on taking electronic devices such as laptops onto aircraft cabins on flights from Turkey to the United States was lifted on Wednesday, the private Dogan news agency reported.

On March 25, the United States banned electronic devices larger than a mobile phone from cabins on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

Dogan said flag carrier Turkish Airlines accepted passengers with electronic devices onto its 6:45am (11:45pm on Tuesday) flight from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport to New York's John F Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday morning.

State-run Anadolu news agency on Tuesday reported Turkey's Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan as saying the ban on the devices on flights from Istanbul to the United States would be lifted on Wednesday.

US and British officials carried out inspections of security measures at Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, Dogan reported.

The ban was imposed at the 10 airports in eight countries — Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey — to address fears that bombs could be concealed in electronic devices.

On Sunday, the ban was lifted on flights from Abu Dhabi.

Emirates says laptop ban on US flights lifted

Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, said on Wednesday the in-cabin ban on laptops and other large electronic devices on its flights to the United States had been lifted "effective immediately."

 

"Emirates has been working hard in coordination with various aviation stakeholders and the local authorities to implement heightened security measures and protocols that meet the requirements of the US Department of Homeland Security’s new security guidelines for all US bound flights," an Emirates spokeswoman said in a statement.

Emirates flies to 12 US cities.