Emirates says US electronics restrictions to last months

New US restrictions on passengers carrying electronics on some flights to the US will be in place initially for nearly seven months before it is reviewed. An Emirates spokeswoman said Tuesday the airline understood that "the directive comes into effect on 25 March 2017 and is valid until 14 October 2017." A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman termed that date "a placeholder for review" of the rule. The US will this week restrict passengers traveling from Middle East airports in eight countries from carrying electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on board. Passengers will instead have to stow larger devices such as tablets and laptops with their checked baggage. The rule has been imposed because of unspecified security threats. Earlier, DHS said the procedures would "remain in place until the threat changes" and did not rule out expanding to other airports if circumstances changed. The restrictions apply to airlines flying direct to the US from airports in Muslim-majority countries Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Morocco and Qatar. The airports affected are in Amman, Cairo, Kuwait City, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Casablanca, Morocco; Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The restrictions will not affect any US airline as they do not fly to the ten airports.<br/>