UK Ban on Carrying Electronic Devices in Cabins Eased on Flights from Turkey
The UK's ban on carrying electronic devices in plane cabins on flights from six Middle Eastern countries has been eased.
The Department for Transport has lifted the ban for flights from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen and some flights from Istanbul Ataturk and Turkey's third most populous city, Izmir.
However, the ban remains in place for the remaining five countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
Restrictions on these nations are expected to be lifted once the DfT has verified that additional security checks are in place.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “The remaining restrictions will be lifted only when we are satisfied it is safe and proportionate to do so.
“The UK will not hesitate to put in place effective and robust security measures wherever we believe these are needed to protect passengers, and we keep them under constant review.”
The current ban means larger devices such as laptops, Kindles and iPads must be stowed in the luggage hold of an aircraft.
In theory this prevents would-be terrorists from manually triggering an explosive concealed in such a device.
The ban came into effect one day after the US introduced similar restrictions on eight majority Muslim countries.
EasyJet said its flights from Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman and Izmir would see restrictions lifted within days.
A spokesperson for the UK's biggest carrier said: “Once we have a date we will contact customers travelling on these routes to inform them.”
She added: “We continue to work with the UK Government with regards to our flights from Hurghada (Egypt) to the UK.”
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