Electronic devices will be banned from cabin baggage on flights to the US from eight mainly Middle Eastern and north African countries.
The move affects nine airlines operating from 10 airports. They have been given 96 hours from 7am today to ban all electronic devices bigger than a mobile phone from hand-luggage.
The ban, which is apparently due to intelligence gathered overseas, includes laptops, tablets, cameras, DVD players and computer games, which must be packed in check-in luggage.
The US Department of Homeland Security said extremists were looking for ‘innovative methods’ to blow up aircraft and it said bombs could be hidden in devices such as laptops.
The nine airlines covered by the ban are Emirates, Etihad, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Royal Jordanian, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc and Qatar Airways.
The electronics ban includes flights from Cairo, Istanbul, Amman in Jordan, Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Casablanca in Morocco, Doha in Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
"The US government is concerned about terrorists’ ongoing interest in targeting commercial aviation, including transportation hubs over the past two years, as evidenced by the 2015 airliner downing in Egypt; the 2016 attempted airliner downing in Somalia; and the 2016 armed attacks against airports in Brussels and Istanbul," said the Department of Homeland Security.
"Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items."
