In March, the United States implemented an electronics ban which affected a total of 8 countries such as Africa, the Middle East Turkey and more. Basically the ban meant passengers couldn’t take devices with them in the cabin if they were larger than their mobile device, Emirates even banned noise cancelling headphones.
The ban was obviously not popular by passengers as most tend to use their own devices for entertainment and work purposes. Carriers were quick to adapt to this and offer devices and other features for the passengers. Emirates allowed passengers in Business and First to loan tablets, Qatar offered Business Class passengers laptops and Etihad offer Business and First passengers a tablet and the wifi onboard is free for everyone.
Finally there’s some good news to report about the ‘Electronics Ban’ and it’s that Etihad is now excluded from the ban, effective immediately.
According to Gulfnews.com, Homeland Security gave the Abu Dhabi based carrier the go ahead to drop the ban due to having Preclearence at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Preclearence is used for passengers on flights to the United States. Etihad have also just updated their website with the most current information.
Finally passengers are able to take their laptops and other larger electronic devices onboard!
Etihad 787-9 In Washington Dulles
Overall, this is fantastic news for passengers flying on Etihad to the United States. At this time, there’s no other information on the other airports and I imagine it’ll still be a while before we see it fully lifted.