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Royal Jordanian Airlines Bans Use of Electronics After US Voices Security 'Concerns' (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the twiddle-your-thumbs dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Royal Jordanian airlines banned the use of electronics on flights servicing the U.S. after government officials here expressed concerns. Details are scant, but CNN is reporting that other carriers based on the Middle East and Africa may be affected as well. The news broke when Royal Jordanian, a state-owned airline that operates around 500 flights a week, posted this cryptic notice on its Twitter feed. The ban, which includes laptops, tablets, and video games, but does not include smartphones or medical devices, is effective for Royal Jordanian flights servicing New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Montreal. A spokesperson for Royal Jordanian was not immediately available for clarification. Meanwhile, CNN is reporting that Royal Jordanian may not be the only carrier affected by these new security provisions. Jon Ostrower, the network's aviation editor, just tweeted that as many as 12 airlines based in the Middle East and Africa could be impacted. A Saudi executive also tweeted that "directives by U.S. authorities" could affect passengers traveling from 13 countries, with the new measure set to go into effect over the next 96 hours.

3 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, shucks by ugen · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This probably has nothing to do with the fact that several middle-east based carriers have been consistently highly rated by passengers and, with their top notch service and low fares luring plenty of international travelers away from legacy US carriers.

    1. Re:Oh, shucks by fisternipply · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The direct Dreamliner flight from JFK (and back to ORD) is actually quite nice. Wish they went back to JFK though. Most of RJ's long haul fleet are Dreamliners and it's a nice airplane. On-board staff are friendly and accommodating. Jordan is not a fundamentalist Islamic country where the women cover their heads and say nothing. The royal family are very progressive and people in Jordan are pretty normal.

  2. Re:Visiting the US is becoming a lot of fun lately by Lisandro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Doesn't work that way. I travel to the US regularly for business and the current recommendation is not to carry smartphones or computers with you; i'd normally dismiss horror stories on US borders as bullshit except i have a number of coworkers who were asked for their laptop passwords by customs officers in the past few months.

    It hasn't been my experience (yet), but it is incredible that we have to follow the same considerations as if we were traveling to North Korea in that regard.