US plays favourites, lifts laptop ban on one airline

US plays favourites, lifts laptop ban on one airline

The irritating laptop ban has been lifted, but only for one airport with their carrier’s flights leaving for the US.

According to The Independent, Abu Dhabi has become the first airport to lift the US ban on electronics, with Etihad announcing its hub airport had been given the green light to lift the ban.

The US recently upped the ante on security, with a whole range of extra security measures put into place, but this lift on the laptop ban is at least one positive for travellers flying via Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways.

The lift has taken place with immediate effect, per The Independent, after the Transport Security Administration (TSA) – part of the Department of Homeland Security – completed an “observation and verification session”.

Passengers were immediately allowed to take electronic devices onboard Etihad flights to the US.

Recently, a number of airlines were looking for loopholes around the inconvenient ban, while Australia looked at starting its own electronics boycott.

The “laptop ban” was brought in by the US government in March on the basis of “innovative methods” being used by terrorists, and affected affects airports from eight Muslim-majority countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.

The decision to exempt flights from Abu Dhabi to the US “allows passengers to have all laptops, tablets, and other gadgets as carry-on items, after going through enhanced inspection procedures,” the airline said in a statement on Sunday, per news.com.au.

The carrier operates 45 flights per week from the capital Abu Dhabi to six US airports.

Last week, the TSA announced it was demanding extra screening requirements for electronics as a security measure at 280 airports around the world, impacting 2000 flights a day, per The Independent.

It was said to be a bid to ensure the electronics ban was not expanded, and Abu Dhabi fast became the first airport to meet with its approval.

 

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