The United States is considering banning passengers from carrying large electronic devices in their cabin baggage on flights from Europe, AFP reported on Tuesday. Currently, passengers flying in to the US from 10 airports fall under the ambit of the ban that was introduced in March. The 10 airports are located across eight countries: the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Morocco.
The US Department of Homeland Security will soon announce a decision on the matter, spokesman David Lapan said. Lapan added that airlines operating out of specific European airports have already been given a heads-up.
The US Transportation Safety Administration sent an edict on the matter to the airlines and in a press conference arranged soon after, government officials said they had “intelligence” that terrorists favoured “smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items”.
Following the US, the United Kingdom had also imposed a ban on large electronic items in the cabin luggage on flights coming to the country from six countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
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