U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is speaking with European officials on Friday to discuss threats to aviation and a possible expansion of a ban on in-cabin electronics larger than cellphones, U.S. and European officials said Friday.
DHS spokesman David Lapan said no announcement was planned for Friday on whether the U.S. government will expand the ban and that no final decision had been made on expanding the restrictions.
In March, the United States announced laptop restrictions on flights originating from 10 airports including in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey because of fears that a concealed bomb could be installed in electronic devices taken on aircraft.
Britain quickly followed suit with restrictions on a slightly different set of routes.
Reuters reported Wednesday the Trump administration is likely to include some European countries in the in-cabin ban.
Kelly briefed members of Congress Thursday and held a meeting with high-level executives at Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines Group.
The airlines declined to comment.
A European Union spokeswoman confirmed the call with EU commissioners and transport ministers was scheduled with Kelly for Friday. Kelly is also scheduled to meet President Donald Trump on Friday but a DHS official said the meeting is about a different topic.
One issue airlines are concerned about is how much advance notice they would have to impose additional restrictions, which some airline officials say would require hiring more staff.
A broader ban would significantly affect U.S. and European carriers, which are concerned about the challenges of checking large numbers of devices. In 2016, 30 million people flew to the UnitedStates from Europe, according to U.S. Transportation Department data. There are more than 300 daily flights from Europe to the United States.
Some U.S. and European airlines have been planning for a wider ban, industry officials have told Reuters.
A congressional official said it appeared that Homeland Security was likely to expand the ban soon, but did not say when or to what airports.
Kelly said last month the ban was likely to expand, given the sophisticated threats in aviation and intelligence findings that would-be attackers were trying to hide explosives in electronic devices.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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