Almost two months after the U.S. banned the laptop on flights bound for the United States that originate from specific countries where Muslims are the majority, the prohibition could be expanded. The U.S. is considering banning laptops and other big electronic devices on aircraft that originate from Europe and headed for the U.S.
Several European air carriers are preparing for a wider ban which would not allow the bringing inside the cabin as hand carry of laptops, tablets, and even gaming consoles. The list includes Deutsche Lufthansa AG and the Air France-KLM Group.
Washington meeting tackles expanded ban
On Thursday, a meeting is being held in Washington to discuss the widened ban to possibly include planes that depart from European airports. Ulli Gendrot, the spokeswoman of Air France, said the airline company is in contact with its partners in the U.S. and American authorities.
Air France-KLM has an alliance with Delta Airlines, while Lufthansa has United Continental Holdings as its partner. Helmut Tolksdorf, the spokesman of Lufthansa, said the German airline is working internally on various scenarios if Washington expands the ban to include European carriers, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, the European Commission wrote to U.S. President Donald Trump to seek cooperation on any new security measures.
The original ban, announced on March 21, affected Middle Eastern airlines such as Emirates, Turkish Airlines, and Qatar Airways. The electronic devices were not allowed into cabins as hand carries because of fears that explosives could be hidden inside laptops and damage the jet.
Strong intelligence may result in wider ban
In recent weeks, John Katko, the chairman of the House Transportation Security Subcommittee, and John Kelly, secretary of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, said the proposed wider prohibition is the result of stronger intelligence reports. But while a DHS spokesman said that an expansion of the ban is under study, no decision has been reached by Washington.
Violeta Bulc and Dimitris Avramopoulos, commissioners of the EC, said in their letter to Trump that the bloc and the U.S.
must act together to come up with a joint response to shared security threats. Ahead of the expanded U.S. ban, Britain also disallowed the carrying of laptops aboard cabins on direct flights from six states.
Robert O’Meara, the spokesman for Airports Council International Europe, said there should be good coordination in airline and airports. The key to implementing the expanded ban to ensure the message is communicated in a coherent way, he stressed.
