Airline passengers coming to the U.S. on direct flights from eight majority-Muslim nations must now place most electronic devices, including laptops, tablets and cameras, in checked baggage under stepped-up security measures, Trump administration officials said.
Passengers can still carry smartphones into the plane's cabin, but nothing larger, the officials added.
The measures took effect Tuesday morning and cover about 50 incoming flights a day from the eight countries — Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
All are traditional U.S. allies and none is among the six majority-Muslim nations on President Trump's controversial executive order that seeks to temporarily suspend immigration. The president issued a revised executive order on March 6, and this one, like the original in January, has been halted by the courts.
The six countries cited in Trump's order all have fraught relations with the U.S., and several are plagued by unrest or civil war, including Syria, Libya and Yemen.
In contrast, the countries on the new airline list are mostly stable, have generally good relations with the U.S. and include four wealthy states in the Gulf.
The U.S. officials said the airplane restrictions are based on intelligence indicating that terror groups are still plotting to blow up civilian planes. The officials stress that the latest measure is not related to the president's executive order, but it's certain to draw comparisons amid the ongoing political and legal battle over Trump's immigration order.
Royal Jordanian informs passengers
Royal Jordanian Airlines announced the security steps on Twitter on Monday afternoon. The tweet was deleted shortly afterward, but it prompted administration officials to speak to reporters Monday evening, and they said the measures would take effect Tuesday morning.
The measure is open-ended and will be reviewed periodically. It covers 10 airports in the eight countries — Amman, Jordan; Cairo; Istanbul; Kuwait City; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
That list includes every major travel hub in the region except Israel's main airport just outside Tel Aviv.
U.S. authorities have expressed concerns in the past that explosives could be placed inside electronic devices.
However, the administration officials declined to say specifically how this move would enhance security since it doesn't ban electronic items currently permitted on planes, it just requires that most be placed in checked bags.
Passengers can still take smartphones or essential medical devices into the cabin. But larger items, including laptops, tablets, cameras, DVD players and electronic games will have to be checked.
The officials cited attacks in recent years by extremists, including the downing of a Russian charter plane in Egypt in 2015, which was apparently caused by an explosive device on the aircraft. The officials also noted airport attacks carried out by gunmen in Brussels and Istanbul in 2016.
U.S. carriers are not affected because none travels directly to the U.S. from airports in the eight named countries. The measure does not cover flights leaving the U.S.
American officials said they started reaching out on Sunday to make sure the countries and airlines knew the new regulations were coming.
For the past several years, U.S. authorities have expressed great concern about the bombmaking skills of the al-Qaida satellite in Yemen and have cited group member Ibrahim al-Asiri in particular.
Yemen is on Trump's immigration ban, but there are no direct flights from that country to the U.S. However, Yemen is relatively close to the four Persian Gulf states on the airline list.
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