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Indonesia heightens airport security checks, but electronic devices not banned

JAKARTA — Indonesia heightens airport security checks on laptops and other electronic devices, but has no plans to ban them from any foreign and domestic flights, seeing current security measures sufficient to detect threats, Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation said on Sunday (March 26).

Planes parked at Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta International Airport. AFP file photo

Planes parked at Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta International Airport. AFP file photo

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JAKARTA — Indonesia heightens airport security checks on laptops and other electronic devices, but has no plans to ban them from any foreign and domestic flights, seeing current security measures sufficient to detect threats, Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation said on Sunday (March 26).

Under existing rules, passengers can have their laptops and other electronic devices as carry-on, and only need to take them out from bags during X-ray checks. The simple device-check rule, however, has not observed at all airports.

Mr Agus Santoso, director general of air transportation at the ministry, said in a statement that the ministry has sent circular letters to remind airport operators about the rule.

“Aviation security is an integral part of aviation safety. Security measures against goods that can interfere with flight safety must be tightened,” he said.

Electronic devices can be used to hide explosives, while tools that use lithium ion batteries can catch fire during flight, as had happened to Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. Several Indonesian airlines have banned the phones from their flights.

The ministerial letter came after the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom imposed a ban for the inbound passengers from Turkey and several Middle Eastern countries to carry electronics larger than a mobile phone to the aircraft cabin.

Indonesia has been seeing heightened terrorism threats in the past years. Last week, police killed one and arrested three terrorism suspects linked to the Islamic State militant group. In February, two terrorist attacks were foiled in Bandung.

Indonesia’s aviation industry was targeted twice by terrorists. In 2003, when a bomb set off by Jamaah Islamiyah injured 11 at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport, and in 1981, when the country’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia was hijacked by Komando Jihad. JAKARTA GLOBE

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