Abu Dhabi airport says it’s now exempt from US laptop ban

The flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates says its flights out of the country’s capital are now exempt from a US ban on laptop computers being in airplane cabins.

Long-haul carrier Etihad said in a statement on Sunday that it welcomed the decision by the US Department of Homeland Security, which comes “subject to enhanced security measures” at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Abu Dhabi’s airport already has a US Customs and Border Protection facility that allows passengers to clear screening they’d otherwise have to go through when landing in America.

The US ban now applies to nonstop US-bound flights from nine international airports in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai in the UAE.