Qatar Airways has announced Thursday that all passengers travelling to the United States can now carry their laptops and tablets with them on board, putting an end to a three-month ban on devices, Reuters reports.
Qatar Airways joins other Middle Eastern airline carriers like Emirates, Turkish Airlines, and Etihad Airways who also announced lifting a U.S. ban on their flights this week.
The U.S. in March, imposed the ban on electronic devices on direct flights from 10 airports in eight countries – Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Turkey – to address reports that bombs could be concealed in electronic devices taken aboard aircraft.
In a statement, Thursday, Qatar Airways said the airline met with all new U.S. security requirements and the ban had been lifted.
According to Reuters, Spokesman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday that U.S. transport officials were due to visit Qatar Airways, Emirates and Turkish Airlines on Wednesday to check that the latest measures are in place,
Enhanced security measures for flights to the United States were announced on June 29, the measures will also require extra time to screen passengers and personal electronic devices for possible explosives. The measures will affect around 325,000 daily passengers travelling on 180 airlines from 280 airports around the world.
Other airlines affected by the ban include Royal Jordanian, Kuwait Airways, EgyptAir and Royal Air Maroc.
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