There are now only three airports left on the Transportation Security Administration’s list that still face laptop restrictions for flights to the United States, after the ban on flights from Cairo International Airport was lifted.
Following the change, EgyptAir joins Etihad, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and Kuwait Airways in being able to allow passengers to carry laptops and larger electronic devices onboard flights from the Middle East to the United States.
Of the original 10 airports affected, three remain subject to the restriction: Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport, Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport and Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. In the coming weeks, the TSA will evaluate carriers from Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Egypt to determine whether they have implemented the security enhancements required for lifting the ban. The restriction will be removed once airlines notify U.S. officials that the new measures are in place and American authorities have verified compliance.
The laptop restriction was introduced earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and applied to flights from 10 Middle Eastern airports to the United States. Last month, DHS outlined enhanced screening measures and indicated the ban could be lifted if the affected airports demonstrated compliance with those measures and TSA inspectors confirmed the procedures.
Airlines operating flights whose last point of departure is outside the United States must adopt the required security upgrades to avoid similar electronic device restrictions in the future.