Electronics Banned From Some US-Bound Flights

UPDATE 3/21: The Section of Homeland Security on Tuesday confirmed that it will ban electronics larger than a prison cell phone on flights to the U.s. from x specific airports. All passengers on these flights, regardless of nationality, must check their larger gadgets in their luggage; devices cannot be brought onboard.

Connected Traveler Airlines were notified at 8am ET today; they take 96 hours to implement the ban, which will remain in place indefinitely, DHS said.

"We take reason to exist concerned about attempts by terrorist groups to circumvent aviation security and terrorist groups proceed to target aviation interests," DHS said on its website. "Implementing additional security measures enhances our ability to mitigate farther attempts against the overseas aviation industry."

Affected airports include: Queen Alia International Airdrome in Amman, Hashemite kingdom of jordan; Cairo International Aerodrome; Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul; Rex Abdul-Aziz International Airdrome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Rex Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi arabia; Kuwait International Airport; Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca, Morocco; Hamad International Airport in Qatar; Dubai International Drome; and Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Outbound flights to these airports are not afflicted.

"The new procedures remain in identify until the threat changes," according to DHS. "These are risk-based decisions and TSA continuously assesses security risks and seeks to balance necessary security requirements with their operational touch on on the industry.

"As threats modify, so too will TSA's security requirements," the bureau said.

As for device specifics, banned gadgets include:

Laptops
Tablets
E-Readers
Cameras
Portable DVD players
Electronic game units larger than a smartphone
Travel printers/scanners

It appears larger smartphones, or phablets, volition be allowed. "The size and shape of smart phones varies by make. Smartphones are commonly available around the world and their size is well understood by most passengers who wing internationally," DHS said.

Every bit for why now, DHS says its "information indicates that terrorist groups' efforts to execute an attack against the aviation sector are intensifying.

"We note that disseminated propaganda from various terrorist groups is encouraging attacks on aviation, to include tactics to circumvent aviation security," the agency said. "Terrorist propaganda has highlighted the attacks against aircraft in Egypt with a soda can packed with explosives in October 2022, and in Somalia using an explosives-laden laptop in February 2022."

Original Story:
Passengers could presently exist prohibited from traveling with large electronic devices on some Us-bound flights due to a ban that appears to be instituted past the United states of america regime.

The new rules surfaced in a at present-deleted tweet on Monday from Royal Jordanian Airlines, which said that starting March 21, passengers are not allowed to bring whatsoever "electrical or electronic device" other than jail cell phones or medical devices on lath the visitor's flights to the The states. It would affect flights flying into New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Montreal, the tweet said.

Imperial Jordanian said it was following "instructions from the concerned US departments" and would ban "laptops, cameras, DVD players, and electronic games" from the flight cabins.

Royal Jordanian did not immediately reply to a request for comment. When asked on Twitter why its initial tweet had been deleted, the airline responded that "farther updates will be appear soon."

A spokesman for the United states Department of Homeland Security declined to comment. "We have no comment on potential security precautions, only volition provide whatsoever update as appropriate," he wrote in an electronic mail.

According to The Guardian, airlines from 13 countries will be caught up in the ban, including Saudi Arabia's Saudia Airlines. The airlines were informed via a confidential email distributed past the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), which The Guardian suggests was supposed to exist kept repose, perhaps prompting Regal Jordanian to delete its tweet.

Saudia did not immediately answer to a request for comment.

Other than an exemption for cell phones, the ban'southward specifics aren't clear, although it appears to be upward to the airlines to ensure that passengers on afflicted flights don't have any of the banned electronics in their acquit-on baggage.

Every bit airlines install Wi-Fi on more shipping, laptops and tablets are gaining usefulness in the air, and many carriers have been using tablets to replace the heavy navigational charts and other paperwork that their flying crews were formerly required to comport. It's unclear if those tablets would besides be subject to the ban.

The news comes shortly after a US court struck down President Trump's revised travel ban.