U.S. Implements Ban on Laptops, Large Electronic Devices in Flights From Europe
The United States Department of Homeland Security is developing a proposal to ban laptops and similar-sized electronic devices from carry-on bags and from being hand carried into the cabin. The expanded ban would cover flights from Europe to the U.S. as the department announced on Wednesday, May 10.
This expanded ban builds on another directive that was put in place in March when both the U.S. and Britain banned laptops, tablets and other electronic devices from being hand-carried by passengers aboard direct inbound flights from 10 Muslim-majority countries.
Intelligence reports saying that ISIS was developing bombs that could be hidden in electronic devices triggered the ban, according to the New York Times. The Trump administration could be preparing to expand the ban to include some European countries as well. U.S. Homeland Security officials have already met with major U.S airlines and related groups on Thursday, May 11, to discuss the new ban, according to Reuters.
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High-level executives from Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, the American Airlines Group and the Airlines for America trade group met with DHS officials to review the impact that the ban could cause. No announcement has yet been made on when the expanded ban will start, and all that David Lapan, DHS spokesman, revealed is that there would be no announcement on Thursday.
Currently, the U.S. ban only applies to flights from 10 airports in eight countries. The British version of the ban covers all airports in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey, according to PRI.
The U.S. ban currently includes laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, portable DVD players and any electronic game bigger than a smartphone, according to Ars Technica. Britain's ban specified sizes for the banned devices, and those covered by the measure are barred from carrying gadgets larger than 6.3 by 3.7 inches.
