New screenings for US-bound travelers

All 325,000 passengers onboard 2,100 daily flights will be affected

DUBAI - New security screenings for all passengers on US-bound flights began on Thursday, with airlines worldwide questioning flyers about their trip and their luggage in Washington's latest decision affecting global travel.

However, confusion still remains about the new regulations, which come at the end of a 120-day period following the United States lifting a ban on laptops in airplane cabins affecting 10 Middle East cities.

It will affect 325,000 airline passengers on about 2,100 commercial flights arriving daily in the US, on 180 airlines from 280 airports in 105 countries.

Some airlines said they had received permission to delay implementing the new rules until January.

At Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, long-haul carrier Emirates began questioning passengers about their luggage, liquids they were carrying and where they were coming from. Passengers also had to have their carry-on bags searched, along with their electronics. On Wednesday, it said it would conduct "passenger pre-screening interviews" for those traveling on US-bound flights in concert with other checks on electronics.

In China, an official with the Eastern Airlines publicity department said that she saw media reports about security safety interviews but didn't have immediate details on what her company was doing.

An official at the Beijing Airport press center said: "We always strictly follow relevant regulations of the Civil Aviation Administration when conducting security checks."

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.

South Korea's Transport Ministry said that the US agreed to delay implementing the new screening for the country's two biggest carriers, Korean Air Lines Co and Asiana Airlines Inc, until next year on condition they deploy staff at boarding gates to monitor travelers.

Other airlines with US-bound flights at Seoul's Incheon International Airport brought in as many as seven extra staff on Thursday to question passengers under the new rules but there were no major delays, airport spokesman Lee Jung-hoon said.

Singapore Airlines passengers may be required to "undergo enhanced security measures" including inspection of personal electronic devices "as well as security questioning during check-in and boarding", the carrier said on its website.

Other carriers who announced the new regulations on Wednesday included Air France, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., the airlines of Germany's Lufthansa Group and EgyptAir.

US carriers also will be affected by the new rules. Delta Air Lines said it was telling passengers traveling to the US to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their flight and allow extra time to get through security. United declined to comment, while American did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In March, US officials introduced the laptop ban in the cabins of some Middle East airlines over concerns extremists could hide bombs inside of them. The ban was lifted after those airlines began using devices like CT scanners to examine electronics before passengers boarded planes heading to the US.

Ap - Reuters

(China Daily 10/27/2017 page12)