US ORDERS EXTRA SCREENING ON CARGO FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
American authorities issue emergency directive aimed at five countries, including the UAE
US authorities have issued an emergency order requiring additional cargo screening on flights to America from the UAE and four other Middle East countries over terrorism threats.
The directive, issued by the Transport Security Administration, is in response to “persistent threats to aviation”, it said.
The five countries subject to the extra screening are the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The authority said the countries were chosen because of “demonstrated intent by terrorist groups to attack aviation from them”. But it also said most of the requirements of the order were already being carried out voluntarily by airlines in some countries.
Specific airlines identified in the order are: EgyptAir, operating from Cairo International Airport; Royal Jordanian, operating out of Queen Alia International Airport; Saudia, operating from King Abdulaziz International Airport and King Khalid International Airport; Qatar Airways, operating from Doha International Airport; and Emirates and Etihad Airways, flying from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Etihad told The National that it was “fully compliant with all regulatory security requirements across its operations. The security and safety of our customers and aircraft is always our main priority”.
But the airline declined to elaborate on its security procedures.
EgyptAir has already stopped accepting cargo shipments on flights to the US at the request of American authorities.
A plot foiled last summer to smuggle a bomb on board an Etihad plane bound from Australia to the UAE was “an ominous reminder” that “we need to continue our efforts to keep our skies secure”, the US authority said.
Under the requirements of the order, airlines are supposed to provide certain information to US Customs officials on the shipments “at the earliest practical point” before loading the cargo.
The shipment information is then compared with information the US has on terrorist threats, the Associated Press reported.
But guests flying on all Etihad Airways flights from Abu Dhabi to the airline’s six US ports of entry – New York JFK Airport, Washington, DC, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco – are processed through the US Customs and border protection preclearance facility available at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
This means they pass through all US immigration and Customs checks in Abu Dhabi and arrive at their US destination as domestic passengers.
The cargo screening follows a crackdown on security procedures for carriers in the Gulf and Middle East, after US President Donald Trump’s travel bans and last year’s ban on laptops in flight cabins, which has subsequently been lifted.