Passengers, including from India, travelling to the US on Emirates and Turkish Airlines can now carry laptops and other electronic devices on board with American authorities lifting the restrictions. In May, the US had banned large electronic devices like laptops and cameras as cabin baggage on US-bound planes from 10 foreign destinations, mostly in Muslim-majority countries. “Effective immediately, the electronics ban has been lifted for Emirates flights from Dubai International Airport to the USA,” Dubai-based Emirates said in a statement. The airline, which operates a significant number of flights to the US, also said it has been working to implement heightened security measures and protocols that meet the requirements of the US Department of Homeland Security’s new guidelines for all US-bound flights”. In a separate statement, Turkish Airlines said, “If you are travelling to the US from Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, you can carry all your electronic devices on board.”
Passengers travelling to the US from 10 airports were barred in March from carrying large electronic devices as cabin baggage. The airports included those at Dubai and Istanbul. Now the restrictions have been lifted at the two airports after they complied with stronger security measures that have been laid out by the US. Earlier this week, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways said passengers on its flights to the US from Abu Dhabi airport can carry electronic devices on board. For the past few years, Abu Dhabi airport has had a facility that allows checking by American immigration authorities which eliminates the need for immigration checks at US airports.
