The UK’s Department for Transport has confirmed that passengers on certain flights from Istanbul, Izmir, Dalaman, Bodrum and Jordan may now take laptops and larger electronic devices on board.
Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport was the first to have the restrictions completely lifted earlier this week, and the DfT has now released a statement confirming the following:
“We can confirm that, following a review of the changes introduced in March, and working with our international and industry partners to introduce tough additional security measures, the restrictions on electronic devices in the cabin on a small number of UK-bound flights from Istanbul Ataturk, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Izmir, Dalaman, Bodrum and Queen Alia International Airport in Amman have now been lifted.”
Note that the lifting of the ban does not apply to all UK-bound flights from the airports listed above (except for Sabiha Gokcen), but rather to services with the following carriers:
- Turkish Airlines (from Istanbul Ataturk or Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen)
- Pegasus Airlines (from Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen or Izmir)
- Thomas Cook (from Dalaman)
- Easyjet (from Bodrum)
- Atlas (from Istanbul Ataturk)
- Royal Jordanian Airlines (from Queen Alia International Airport)
The DfT said that “The restrictions on flights from all other locations remain in place and will be lifted only when the UK government is satisfied it is safe and proportionate to do so”, and added that “Passengers may be subject to rigorous additional screening at the departure gate, and should contact their airline if they have any queries”.
The UK government introduced carry-on restrictions on larger electronics devices on flights from certain countries in March, shortly after the US had imposed a similar ban.
The Department of Homeland Security gradually lifted its restrictions following the introduction of new security procedures, and the US ban officially came to an end earlier this month.
The DfT said that this page (last updated on July 28) “will be updated on an airport-by-airport basis, once restrictions have been lifted on all affected airlines serving the airport in question”.
