After ban, Turkish Airlines to offer laptops to VIP travellers

Turkish Airlines on Saturday said it would offer laptops to business-class travellers after Britain and the United States banned large electronic devices from the cabin of flights from certain countries.

Washington has barred all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in seven Middle Eastern countries and Turkey, only allowing them to be transported in hold luggage.

Britain followed with a similar ban from five countries in the Middle East and north Africa as well as Turkey.

But Turkish Airlines said it would offer travellers a solution.

"The national flag carrier has now started to offer laptops for its business class passengers on US-bound flights as from today," it said in a statement released on Saturday.

The airline would also offer the same service for UK-bound business class passengers from May 12.

Such passengers would be able to request a laptop from the cabin crew to use in-flight, it said.

The laptops would offer top security and protect the users' privacy by "automatically deleting" all personal data after being shut down, it said.

Announced in March, the ban drew Turkish fury with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging Washington and London to withdraw it "as soon as possible."