If you are planning on travelling to the US, you may want to hear this. The US has banned carrying of large electronic devices onboard passenger flights from eight countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Excluding mobile phones, passengers travelling from the affected airports will no longer be allowed to carry laptops, tablets, iPads and other large electronic devices on board.
Announcing the ban on Tuesday, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said bombs could be hidden in laptops, tablets, cameras, DVD players and electronic games.
The following airports are affected by the ban:
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
The nine airlines affected by the US ban are Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways.
The airlines have been given 96 hours, beginning at 07:00 GMT on Tuesday, to ban devices bigger than a mobile phone or smartphone from cabins, US officials said, adding that the ban had no end date.
According to ABC News, the ban is just a precaution based on new intelligence indicating new potential for smuggling explosives inside consumer products.
Meanwhile, following the US move, UK has announced a similar ban on laptops and other large electronic devices on certain flights to the UK. The ban applies to airliners arriving the UK from six countries including Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey.
Updated to include the UK ban. Photo by Emirates24.com
