The president of Emirates, the Middle East’s biggest airline, defended security measures at the carrier’s Dubai hub on Wednesday and said the ban on personal electronics onboard U.S.-bound flights came without warning.
Tim Clark told The Associated Press that he only learned of the new U.S. regulations the previous day, saying the carrier “had no prior knowledge whatsoever.” Emirates is now scrambling to ensure it is in compliance by a Saturday morning deadline — a target Clark said it would meet a day early.
Dubai was one of 10 cities in Muslim-majority countries affected by the new rule, which will force passengers to forego their tablets, laptops and other gadgets on direct flights to the U.S. Mobile phones and medical devices will be allowed onboard.
Clark said Emirates would fully comply with the directive, even as he questioned why his airport’s hub was included.
“I do find that a little bit surprising to be quite honest,” he said. “When I travel around even the United States or Europe or Asia, I don’t see this level of scrutiny that goes on in Dubai.”
Emirati authorities work closely with their U.S. counterparts to ensure that “the people that they are concerned about coming into the United States do not board our flights,” he added.
“Emirates and its owner, the government of Dubai, and the airport … (are) as safe as any airport or any airline could possibly be,” he said.
Britain issued similar restrictions a few hours after U.S. officials announced theirs, though Dubai and Abu Dhabi — the two United Arab Emirates hubs on the U.S. list — were not included in the British ban.
Emirates has expanded rapidly in the U.S. and elsewhere recent decades, and is one of the airlines most affected by the new U.S. rule.
It operates 18 daily flights to a dozen U.S. cities, including…