New Zealand is mulling an electronics ban for flights from some Muslim majority countries.
The country’s PM Bill English said the NZ Civil Aviation Authority ‘is assessing the evidence to determine what is appropriate.’
That would likely include similar measures to those introduced last month by the US, UK and Australia.
"A number of our security partners put those arrangements in place. With this particular proposition there’s a balance between inconvenience for passengers, many of whom live off their laptop on the one hand, but on the other hand it’s making sure that the flying is safe," English said.
It would likely affect direct flights to New Zealand from Dubai and Doha, Qatar which are operated by Gulf carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways.
The CAA said it has no specific timeframe for when a decision would be made.
Qatar Air said it would assess whether ‘it’s really still worth us flying to New Zealand or not’ if a laptop ban was imposed.
"If we are imposed with bans which will affect our traffic then we will have to reconsider," said airline chief Akbar Al Baker.
