U.S. bans large electronics in airline carry-on luggage

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is set to ban airline passengers from carrying any electronic device larger than a cell phone in their hand luggage.

The temporary ban will apply to non-stop flights to the U.S. from 10 international airports in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (2), Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (2), an unidentified U.S. official told the Associated Press.

Saudi Arabia’s official news agency confirmed that flights from Riyadh and Jeddah were impacted.

Royal Jordanian Airlines said the ban affects its flights to New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Montreal. However, Royal Jordanian said that cellphones and medical devices were excluded from the ban.

The ban is in response to an unspecified terrorist threat, and could be implemented as soon as Monday next week, according to AP.

An aviation expert told AP that the nature of the ban suggested the government was acting on intelligence about a possible terrorist attack. He speculated the government may be concerned about insufficient passenger screening or conspiracies involving airport insiders in the affected countries.