Qatar
Airways said on Thursday passengers traveling to the United States can now
carry their laptops and other large electronics on board, ending a three month
in-cabin
ban on devices for the Doha-based airline.
Qatar
Airways joins Emirates [EMIRA.UL], Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS)
and Etihad Airways, which have also announced this week a lifting of the ban on
their U.S. flights.
In March,
the United States imposed the ban on direct flights originating at 10 airports
in eight countries - Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey - to address fears that bombs could be
concealed in electronic devices taken aboard aircraft.
Qatar
Airways said in a statement on Thursday the ban had been lifted after the
airline and its hub airport Hamad International met with new U.S. security
requirements.
The United
States announced on June 29 enhanced security measures for flights to the
country which require additional time to screen passengers and personal
electronic devices for possible explosives.
Qatar
Airways Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker told reporters in Dublin the airline was
found to be in compliance with the "new draconian requirements" after
an audit over the previous two days.
U.S.
transport officials were due to visit Qatar Airways, Emirates and Turkish
Airlines on July 5 to check the latest measures were in place, a spokesman for
the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told Reuters on
Wednesday.
TSA did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday on the lifting of the
ban affecting Qatar Airways.
The new U.S.
measures, which take effect within three weeks of the announcement, will affect
around 325,000 passengers a day traveling on 180 airlines from 280 airports
around the world, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Airlines
that fail to meet the new security requirements could still face in-cabin
electronics restrictions.
Saudi
Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has said it expects the ban to be lifted on flights
from Jeddah and Riyadh by July 19.
Royal Air
Maroc also believes [RAM.UL] it can have the ban lifted on Casablanca's
Mohammed V International Airport by July 19, a senior official from the
state-owned airline told Reuters.
Other
airlines affected by the ban include Royal Jordanian RJAL.AM, Kuwait Airways
[KA.UL] and EgyptAir [EGY.UL].
(Reporting
by Conor Humphries in Dublin, A
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