U.S. And E.U. Officials Set To Meet Again To Discuss Laptop Ban

European Union and U.S. transport and security officials will meet again in Brussels tomorrow to talk about the proposed ban on laptops and tablets on flights from Europe.

The meeting is the second in two weeks to discuss the ban, which doesn’t yet have a timetable for execution. Representatives from E.U. countries requested last week’s meeting after becoming “alarmed” over reports of the ban’s expansion, the AP reports.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the Wednesday talks are “to jointly assess any new threats and work toward a common approach to address them.”

Should the United States install a laptop ban on European flights, more than 400 daily routes, and 65 million passengers each year, would be affected.

The United States initially banned all electronics bigger than a smartphone on flights from eight countries in the Middle East in March. That affected about 50 flights a day from the United States on nine carriers: Egyptair, Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

The United Kingdom matched that ban shortly after it was announced, banning devices larger than 6.3 inches by 3.7 inches from all cabins on U.K.-bound flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

Since the ban, some airlines have mandated that passengers put all electronics into checked luggage before boarding. Others have collected the devices and put them into storage for the duration of the flight.