Electronics ban on flights from Turkey to US lifted - Dogan agency

A three-month-old ban on taking electronic devices such as laptops onto aircraft cabins on flights from Turkey to the United States was lifted on Wednesday, the private Dogan news agency reported.

On March 25, the United States banned electronic devices larger than a mobile phone from cabins on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

Dogan said flag carrier Turkish Airlines accepted passengers with electronic devices onto its 6:45 a.m. (0345 GMT) flight from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday morning.

State-run Anadolu news agency on Tuesday reported Turkey's Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan as saying the ban on the devices on flights from Istanbul to the United States would be lifted on Wednesday.

U.S. and British officials carried out inspections of security measures at Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, Dogan reported.

The ban was imposed at the 10 airports in eight countries - Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey - to address fears that bombs could be concealed in electronic devices.

On Sunday, the ban was lifted on flights from Abu Dhabi.