U.S. lifts laptop ban for four airlines

Qatar Airways on Thursday joined other Gulf airline carriers that can now allow travelers to bring laptop computers on direct flights to the United States. In March, the United States implemented a ban on carry-on laptop computers on U.S.-bound direct flights from 10 Middle East cities due to concerns that extremists could hide bombs inside of laptops. But in the last few days, U.S. officials have cleared four airlines—Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Emirates, and Turkish Airlines—each with the only U.S.-bound nonstop flights out of four banned airports, after examining their increased security procedures. A spokesman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration confirmed that Qatar Airways had been removed from the list, but declined to give any information about what it did to satisfy security concerns. The ban is still in place for all nonstop U.S.-bound flights from six airports, including those in Kuwait City, Cairo, and Casablanca, Morocco.