Emirates and Turkish Airlines have made an official announcements regarding the lifting of the ban on large electronic items from Dubai and Istanbul to the US.
Attributed to an Emirates spokesperson:
“Effective immediately, the electronics ban has been lifted for Emirates’ flights from Dubai International Airport to the USA. Emirates has been working hard in coordination with various aviation stakeholders and the local authorities to implement heightened security measures and protocols that meet the requirements of the US Department of Homeland Security’s new security guidelines for all US bound flights.”
“We would like to express our gratitude to the US and local authorities for their support and thank our customers for their understanding and patience during the last few months when the ban was in place.”
Turkish Airlines’ website has also been updated: “If you are travelling to US from İstanbul Atatürk Airport, you can carry your all electronic devices on board.”
This morning, Turkish Airlines passengers travelling to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport from İstanbul Atatürk Airport carried their electronic devices on the 6:45 a.m. flight number TK-3.
After lifting the ban on this first flight, Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines Mr. M. İlker Aycı said, ‘‘During 102 days , 81.736 electronic devices were carefully collected from our passengers at gates by our staff and carried in overprotected baggage on 1,087 flights to the US. 75 per cent of devices were laptops and tablets. 25 per cent of devices consisted of cameras, GPS devices and kindles. I would like to express my gratitude to all my colleagues who carried out this operation with a sense of mission and sensibility.”
The statement comes three days after Etihad Airways’ announcement that US-bound passengers can now carry their electronic devices on-board flights from Abu Dhabi.
There are strong rumours that Saudia will follow…
The electronic ban on Qatar Airways’ flights, however, is still in place, it seems.
