US bans laptops and tablets on flights from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and many other Muslim countries

The US administration has banned passengers of many Muslim countries from carrying electronic devices on the flight.

A UK-based media outlet The Independent reported yesterday, that no electronics bigger than the size of a smartphone are being allowed on the flights coming to US from as much as 8 Muslim-majority countries.

The ban has affected some more than nine airlines and 10 airports in eight countries from the Middle Eastern and African region. The list includes Turkey, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco. The airlines affected are Royal Jordanian Airlines, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways.

As per the order, the airline passengers won’t be able to bring electronic devices with them, not even laptops nor the tablets. The electronics bigger than the size of a smartphone must now be placed with the checked luggage compartment.

The reasons of the said orders are not clear as of yet. A spokesperson from the US Homeland Security Department, and the US Transportation Security Administration both denied any comment on this to The Independent yesterday. Today many outlets, however, declared that the ban has been officiated.

“The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, John Kelly, and the acting head of the Transportation Security Administration, Huban Gowadia, decided that greater security was needed based on intelligence about airlines that fly non-stop from 10 airports to the U.S., according to four senior administration officials who spoke to reporters on background to discuss security measures”, writes USA Today.

As a matter of fact, these countries have quite stable internal security demographics. Not even a single country affected by this ban was listed with Trump’s controversial executive order to suspend the immigrations. Analysts are therefore of the view that the ban relates to some intelligence reports that indicate chances of in-air terror activities.

Source — The Independent, USA Today Image — Covington Travel