Laptop Ban on Planes Is Lifted, U.S. Officials Confirm<br />Passengers flying into the United States from airports in 10 Muslim-majority countries affected by the ban may now take their laptops<br />and other large electronic devices into the cabin with them, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Thursday.<br />Instead of carrying out that broader ban, John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary, announced last month<br />that there would be new security standards for carriers flying into the United States.<br />It affected specific airlines that use the airports in those countries as hubs, including Qatar<br />Airways, which dominates the airport in Doha, and Emirates Airlines, which is based in Dubai<br />The ban originally applied to airports in Amman, Jordan; Cairo; Istanbul; Jidda<br />and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia; Kuwait City; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.<br />But the airlines and airports affected by the ban have all complied with the initial phase of the<br />new Homeland Security standards, allowing the prohibition to be lifted, the department said.<br />The ban on portable devices created a headache for carriers flying into the United States from the affected airports.
