The US government has lifted the ban on passengers carrying laptops on Etihad, Emirates and Turkish Airlines for flights into America. The controversial ban was effected in March 2017. It covered all flights to U.S. destinations from 10 airports in the Middle East, including major travel hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
The international airports affected by the ban were:
- Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar
- Dubai International Airport, UAE
- Abu Dhabi International Airport, UAE
- Ataturk International Airport, Istanbul, Turkey
- Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, Jordan
- Cairo International Airport, Egypt
- King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Mohammed V Airport, Casablanca, Morocco
- Kuwait International Airport, Kuwait
Effectively immediately the three airlines have all been cleared to allow customers to bring electronic devices on flights from the Middle East into the U.S.
The ban on U.S. flights from Dubai International, the world’s busiest airport for international travel, has been lifted after new security measures announced by the U.S. last week were implemented, an Emirates spokeswoman said in a statement.
That still leaves another six airlines, each of which remains subject to the ban.
The affected airlines have already taken to Twitter to announce the lifting of the ban.
Dear Passengers, #WelcomeOnBoard to our US-bound flight. Please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy your own electronic devices. pic.twitter.com/WbcZwNPhrf
— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) July 4, 2017
Have you heard? #ElectronicsBan #EtihadAirways
Share your pictures from onboard using your own device and our inflight Wi-Fi.📷 pic.twitter.com/qgI7M0rnhx
— Etihad Airways (@etihad) July 3, 2017
Effective immediately laptops & electronic devices can be taken onboard all Emirates flights from Dubai to the US https://t.co/ii805S5mkN pic.twitter.com/iU7WCFKSq1
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) July 5, 2017
U.S. transport officials will visit Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines on Wednesday to check that the carriers have implemented the latest U.S. security measures, a spokesman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said.
There was also rumour that a similar ban for flights from Europe to the U.S., but that never happened.
