Passengers on Saudi Arabia airline flights to UK can bring electronic devices onboard as cabin baggage again

File photo of Kuwaiti social media activist Thamer al-Dakheel Bourashed putting his laptop inside his suitcase at Kuwait International Airport. PHOTO: AFP

RIYADH (REUTERS) - Saudi Arabia announced on Friday (Dec 22) that passengers travelling on its airlines to the United Kingdom would once again be allowed to carry on electronic devices, reversing a ban put in place earlier this year for security reasons.

Passengers will be able to use laptops and tablets in aircraft cabins on flights from the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah starting from Dec21, the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said in a statement on its official Twitter account.

The United States and Britain implemented curbs on electronic items in the cabin in March on direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia in response to unspecified security threats.

The United States lifted its ban in July on passengers on Saudi Arabian airlines carrying large electronics on board flights bound for America.

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