Certain countries in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Turkey, are impacted.
Thousands of crew members and cruise passengers will be affected, according to Tim Davey, president, ISSGMT Global Marine Travel, a company specialized in flying people to and from their ships around the world.
DHS said it is taking this step in response to reliable intelligence that indicates terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, including smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items.
Davey said ISSGMT Global Marine Travel is fully supportive of the Transportation Security Administration's actions as the agency looks to keep the skies secure, and the company is reaching out to clients to inform them of the latest changes.
'Most of our business and cruise travelers want to stay connected and to be productive during their flights especially on today’s long haul flights of 12 hours or more,' Davey said. 'The affected airlines will now force business travelers to check in their laptops and other large electronic devices, which will become a problem for some of our clients as they prefer to keep their devices close for security purposes.'
The affected airports for flights to the US are Cairo, Egypt; Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Istanbul, Turkey; Doha, Qatar; Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City; Casablanca, Morocco; and Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The airlines flying to the US that are impacted include Egypt Air, Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Turkish Airlines.
The UK list covers all inbound flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia but omits airports such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. The airlines flying into the UK that are affected include British Airways, EasyJet, Jet2.com, Monarch, Thomas Cook, Thomson, Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airways, Atlas-Global Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Egypt air, Royal Jordanian, Tunis Air and Saudia.
The advice provided to ISSGMT Global Marine Travel from Emirates, for example, is as follows:
'Except for medical devices, electronic devices which are larger than a cell phone/smartphone cannot be carried in the cabin of the aircraft. This would be effective on 25 March 2017, and is valid until 14 October 2017. This is applicable to all US-bound passengers from Dubai International Airport, whether originating or transiting through. Emirates requests that all passengers traveling to the US pack all electronic devices larger than a smartphone in their checked-in baggage.'
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