Electronics Ban Lifted For These 4 Airlines

This has been a bit of a ride with small electronics (laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, etc) in the cabin of international airplanes. First, we had the electronics ban on flights from 10 different airports to the US (and a few to the UK). Then, we had the rumblings of the electronics ban moving forward to European -> US flights. That scared a lot of people until Europe and the airlines were able to work out a security arrangement with the US DHS.

Electronics Ban Lifted For These 4 Airlines

Now, we have the electronics ban lifted for several airlines as they have worked hard to apply the new security procedures to their home airports. This is great news for many people, especially since it was originally said that this ban would be in place until mid-October! Here are the airlines that currently have the electronics ban lifted:

• Etihad Airways (first airline to have the restrictions removed)
• Emirates
• Turkish Airlines
• Qatar Airways

Yes, Qatar is the latest and were able to announce that their restrictions were lifted late last night. This means that for all of these airlines, you can now carry your laptops and all other small electronics with you on the plane when leaving from these cities:

• Abu Dhabi, UAE [AUH]
• Dubai, UAE [DXB]
• Istanbul, Turkey [IST]
• Doha, Qatar [DOH]

It is really impressive how fast these airlines worked to get these new security parameters in place. Each of these airlines have a large number of flights to the US so it was important for them to get those flights back to normal.

With these new security procedures in place, I would imagine that you will need more time at the gate before boarding flights on these airlines to the US. Make sure you account for that when you are leaving the lounge/heading to the gate.

I could have been on the first Turkish Airlines flight to the US with this ban lifted but I had purposely booked with a different airline to avoid having my laptop in the cargo space (along with my camera gear). I really wish I could have flown with Turkish since they are one of my favorite airlines for flying business between the US and Europe and I could have seen firsthand what kind of new security / how long the process was to take.

What Cities Are Still Affected By The Electronics Ban?

• Queen Alia International Airport – Amman, Jordan
• Cairo International Airport – Egypt
• King Abdul Aziz International Airport – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• King Khalid International Airport – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Mohammed V Airport – Casablanca, Morocco
• Kuwait International Airport – Kuwait

Saudi Arabia Airlines has said they expect the ban to be lifted on July 19th. They do not operate the same number of flights to the US as the other carriers so I imagine that is why they are not rushing to get this done.

Will you be planning on using these airlines again on flights to the US?