U.S. May Expand Laptop Ban To 71 Airports

The United States is considering expanding its ban on electronics larger than a smartphone to inbound flights coming from 71 airports in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Citing “a very serious constant threat to knock down an airplane,” Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly told a House of Representatives panel on Wednesday that DHS is “looking right now at an additional 71 airports,” as well as other ways to “mitigate the threat.”

The next steps will be taken after Homeland Security representatives meet at a conference in Malta next week to discuss “what we think are the minimum increased security standards.”

Some countries are currently working to improve their screening processes and avoid being placed on the ban list.

The ban dates back to March when the United States barred 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 the ban shortly after it was announced, banning devices larger than 6.3 by 3.7 inches from all cabins on U.K.-bound flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

The United States and European Union met in May about the ban’s possible expansion to more than 300 flights a day from Europe. If expanded to European flights, the ban would cost travelers more than $1 billion and impact more than 400 daily routes and 65 million passengers each year.

DHS two weeks ago said it is not considering expanding the ban to flights departing from the United States at the moment.