U.S,-bound air travelers to get new screenings

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIR

All incoming flights to ATES — the United States will be subject to new security screen- ing procedures before take- off, including both American citizens and foreigners pos- sibly facing security inter

views from airline employees, the U.S. government said Wednesday.

Both American air carriers and global airlines must comply, affecting all the 2,100 flights from around the world entering the U.S. on any given day. The direc- tive is far broader than an earlier Trump administra-

tion ban on laptops inside the cabins of some airliners, which only targeted 10 Mid- east cities and their airlines.

Confusion greeted the new rules. While five global long- haul carriers said they would begin the new security inter- views on Thursday, each offered different descrip

tions of how the procedure would take place, ranging from a form travelers would be required to fill out to being verbally quizzed by an air- line employee. Other carriers insisted their operations remained the same.

“The security measures affect all individuals, international passengers and U.S. citizens traveling to the United States from a last point of

departure international location,” said Lisa Farb- stein, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. “These new measures will impact

all flights from airports that serve as last points of departure locations to the United States.”

The new rules come at the

end of a 120-day window for new U.S. safety regulations to be implemented following the lifting of the laptop ban imposed on some Mideast airlines.

They include “heightened screening of personal electronic devices” and stricter security procedures around planes and in airport termi- nals, Farbstein said.

Details of the new rules first became apparent in a statement by Dubai-based Emirates, which operates the world’s busiest airport for international travel.

In the statement, Emirates said it would begin carrying out “pre-screening interviews” at its check-in count

ers for passengers flying out of Dubai and at boarding gates for transit and transfer fliers. It urged those flying through Dubai Interna

tional Airport to allow extra time for flight check-in and boarding.

“These measures will work in complement with the current additional screening measures conducted at the boarding gate,” it said.

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said on its website that it had suspended self-drop baggage services and that passengers heading to the U.S. “will be subject to a short security interview” when checking their luggage. Those without bags would have a similar interview at their gates.

Air France said it would begin the new security interviews on Thursday at Paris Orly Airport and a week later, on Nov. 2, at Charles de Gaulle Airport. It said the extra screening would take the form of a questionnaire handed to all passengers.

U.S. carriers also will be affected by the new rules. Delta Air Lines said it was telling passengers traveling to the U.S. to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their flight and allow extra time to get through security.