U.S. lifts electronics ban on flights from UAE, Istanbul

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said Wednesday the U.S. has lifted the ban of electronic devices on board of flights from the Gulf Arab emirate to the United States, Dubai daily Gulf News reported.

Dubai's government-controlled Emirates said the lifting of the ban which took place with immediate effect was made possible after the airline implemented new "security measures" to meet the U.S. requirements for security.

The UAE's national carrier Etihad Airways said additional passenger screening was implemented at Abu Dhabi international airport in line with the demands by the U. S. Department of Homeland Security.

A three-month ban on electronics in cabins on U.S.-bound flights from Turkey's Istanbul was lifted on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, the Turkish Airlines allowed its passengers to take their electronic devices into the cabin on the first flight from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport to New York.

Ilker Ayci, the airlines' chairman, told reporters that the Turkish national flag carrier had handled over 80,000 devices on 1,087 U.S.-bound flights during the ban.

"The devices were carried in specially-designed shipment containers to avoid any damage during the whole process," he said, noting laptops alone accounted for 75 percent of the devices.

Turkey started to use U.S.-manufactured tomography machines for luggage scan by the end of June, after the United States banned in March devices larger than a smart phone in cabins on U.S.-bound flights from 10 airports in eight countries including Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, citing the threat of bombs hidden in the electronics.

The U.S. first lifted the ban on flights from Abu Dhabi on Sunday.