Electronics ban on Egypt-US flights to be lifted next week

CAIRO - A three-month-old ban on taking electronic devices such as laptops into aircraft cabins on flights from Egypt to the United States will be lifted next week, sources at Cairo International Airport told Reuters on Tuesday.

On March 25, the United States banned electronic devices larger than a mobile phone from cabins on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

"The relevant US authorities have decided to lift the ban imposed since last March on passengers taking electronic devices aboard aircraft cabins from Cairo airport on EgyptAir [EGY.UL] flights headed to New York in the next week," one source said.

A delegation from the US Transportation Security Administration will carry out an inspection of measures employed to secure passengers and cargo on EgyptAir's flight to New York, the only US-bound flight out of Egypt, as part of routine TSA inspections, the sources said.

The ban was imposed at 10 airports in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey to address fears that bombs could be concealed in electronic devices.