Qatar Airways overcomes US flight laptop ban
July 5, 2017
The electronics ban imposed on flights from Doha to the US was lifted on Thursday, Qatar Airways said, following similar announcements by airlines based in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Qatar Airways said all personal electronic devices can be carried on board US-bound flights with immediate effect after it met all security requirements.
On Wednesday, Emirates airline confirmed that it had won a similar exemption on flights from its base in Dubai, which has grown into the world's busiest airport for international traffic. Carriers from other neighboring countries - Abu Dhabi's Etihad and Turkish Airlines - won a reprieve from the new rules earlier this week.
Fewer countries affected
Washington imposed the restrictions without warning three months ago on direct flights from 10 airports in eight foreign countries - Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey.
The bans were put into place after intelligence officials learned of efforts by so-called "Islamic State" (IS) jihadists to produce a bomb that could be secreted inside such devices and taken aboard aircraft. As a result all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone had to be transported in checked luggage.
Additionally, Saudi Arabian Airlines expects its laptop ban to be lifted no later than July 19, according to their state news agency.
tr/mm (Reuters, AFP, AP)