UK airlines and their foreign counterparts in the Middle East and North Africa have been thrown into disarray by the announcement of an imminent ban on all electronic devices larger than mobile phones.
They will be prohibited on flights from certain airports to Britain, but it is not clear where exactly the prohibition will apply.
It follows the chaotic imposition of a ban on electronic devices from 10 airports in the region to the US.
The Department for Homeland Security prohibition began to emerge on Monday evening, with a prematurely sent tweet from Royal Jordanian Airlines.
Later, the DHS said: “Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items.
“It is prudent to enhance security, to include airport security procedures for passengers at certain last point of departure airports to the United States.”
The 10 affected airports are Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Casablanca, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul Ataturk, Jeddah, Kuwait and Riyadh.
Security officials in Washington DC have shared the intelligence with their counterparts in London.
It is evidently regarded as credible, and the Government is to impose similar regulations on flights to British airports — which would affect far more passengers than the US ban.
On a typical day, from Dubai alone, Emirates dispatches six Airbus A380 “Superjumbo” aircraft to Heathrow, and a further three to Gatwick.
British Airways, Qantas, Royal Brunei and Virgin Atlantic also fly from Dubai to Heathrow.
Manchester and Birmingham are each served three times a day by Emirates, with Glasgow receiving two arrivals and Newcastle one.
Etihad and Qatar Airways, whose hubs at Abu Dhabi and Doha respectively are also covered by the American ban, also fly more frequently to the UK than to the US.
In addition, Turkish Airlines has a dozen flights on a typical day to London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.
The US list of 10 “last point of departure” airports was easy to compile, because American officials simply looked at the routes from the “suspect” countries and imposed the ban on the source airports.
Under the UK's measure, all direct flights from six countries - Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia - will be affected.
With the gap in size and versatility between smartphones and tablet computers shrinking, there is also confusion about what size of device will be allowed.
The Department for Homeland Security said: “The size and shape of smartphones varies by brand. Smartphones are commonly available around the world and their size is well understood by most passengers who fly internationally.
“Please check with your airline if you are not sure whether your smartphone is impacted.”
