According to an announcement the airline posted on Twitter citing instructions from concerned USA departments, many popular electronic devices travelers carry on board planes, especially on long flights, including DVD players, tablets, computers, games and cameras, will be barred from being transported in carry-on luggage and instead must be put in checked baggage on those flights.
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Affected airports include Queen Alia in Jordan, Cairo International in Egypt, Ataturk International in Turkey, Dubai international and Abu Dhabi international in the United Arab Emirates.
The statement says that Britain has been in touch with the Americans to fully understand their position.
The ban does not apply to mobile phones or medical devices, but does include laptops, tablets, electronic games and cameras, according to reports.
Britain’s decision to follow the U.S. in banning electronic devices on flights from certain Middle Eastern countries means “terrorism wins”, a leading aviation security expert has warned.
The Emirates airline confirmed today it was implementing restrictions following a security directive from the US Transportation Security Administration.
Overseas airlines will also be hit, with Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airways, Atlas-Global Airlines, Middle East Airlines, EgyptAir, Royal Jordanian, Tunis Air and Saudia all facing the same ban. A flight from Dubai to NY takes about 14 hours, so it’ll be a long nap.
The U.S. Travel Association urged the government “to make every effort to minimize disruption to legitimate travelers by clearly and quickly articulating the details of the new policy”, which comes into effect late this week and was announced early Tuesday morning.
The ban Royal Jordanian referenced may be part of a larger crackdown by United States authorities on electronics devices on flights coming from several countries.
The aviation sector is under constant threat from terrorist groups, because of the ability to inflict a mass-causality event and the widespread media attention that follows.
Officials said the change will affect passengers who travel on about 50 daily flights.
However, the new regulations from the US and United Kingdom only apply to electronics brought into airplane cabins and doesn’t appear to affect any devices checked in baggage.
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The U.S. said it notified airlines of the ban on March 21 at 3 a.m.
