The U. S. might add other airports to its ban restricting passengers from bringing laptops on board certain flights from the Middle East.
The U. S. might add other airports to its ban restricting passengers from bringing laptops and other electronics into the cabin for certain flights from the Middle East.
“We may take measures in the not too distant future to expand the number of airports,” said Homeland Security secretary John Kelly on Wednesday during a congressional hearing.
Last month, the U. S. announced the ban , which affects ten airports, all of which are in Muslim-majority countries. Passengers flying to the U. S. are barred from bringing any electronic devices larger than a smartphone into a plane’s cabin, and must instead check them in as baggage.
The U. S. declared the ban, citing terrorist threats. It has reportedly found that ISIS and other terrorist groups are developing ways to plant bombs in electronic devices that can bypass airport security.
On Wednesday, Kelly didn’t elaborate on the technical nature of the risk, but said the terrorist threat was “real.”
“There are dozens of cells that are talking about attacking aviation,” he said.
