America, European Union agree not to ban laptops from cabins of transatlantic flights

(Image credit: ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 30 May 2017

The United States will reportedly not introduce a long-rumored ban on bringing laptops into the cabin of transatlantic flights from European cities, Politico reports. The ban is already in place for flights from certain regions of the Middle East and North Africa after intelligence reports that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is developing ways to hide explosives in batteries and battery compartments.

"No ban," a commission official told Politico following a Tuesday afternoon call between U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc. "Both sides have agreed to intensify technical talks and try to find a common solution," the commission official added.

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Update 2:21 p.m.: In a statement to BuzzFeed News' Talal Ansari, the Department of Homeland Security said "while the much-discussed expansion of the ban on large electronic devices in the cabin of flights to the United States was not announced today, the secretary made it clear that an expansion is still on the table. Secretary Kelly affirmed he will implement any and all measures necessary to secure commercial aircraft flying to the United States … if the intelligence and threat level warrant it."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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