Laptops banned from inbound aircraft cabins

Airline passengers travelling to the UK from six countries in the Middle East and north Africa are to be banned from carrying laptops and other large electronic devices as cabin luggage.

The ban affects direct inbound flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia and covers devices which are larger than a typical smartphone measuring 16cm by 9.3cm by 1.5cm. They will now have to go in the plane’s hold.

The move was ordered by Prime Minister Theresa May in the latest of a series of meetings on aviation security. Affected airlines were informed immediately, but may take a few days to implement the new security measure, Number 10 said last night.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It follows a similar measure announced yesterday by the US authorities affecting flights originating in a longer list of eight mainly Muslim countries.

Mrs May’s official spokesman declined to discuss whether the new rules were prompted by specific intelligence, while the US government cited unspecified “threats”.

UK airlines operating direct flights which will be hit by the new measures are British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, Monarch, Thomas Cook and Thomson, while overseas airlines affected are Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airways, Atlas-Global Airlines, Middle East Airlines, EgyptAir, Royal Jordanian, Tunis Air and Saudia.

Devices including Kindles and other e-readers will be banned from the cabin, along with hybrid devices such as the Microsoft Surface and iPad Pro, as well as the new Nintendo Switch gaming system.