MANILA, July 19 — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Wednesday told the Philippine News Agency that larger than smartphone portable electronic devices (PED) of passengers bound for the United States (US) would be subjected to additional screening.
Devices that will exceed the size of commonly used smartphones must be surrendered to PAL for additional screening at the Redundancy Screening Checkpoint. Medical devices, however, are exempted from additional screening, according to PAL.
The airline explained that this was in line with the new set of security directives issued by the US Department of Homeland Security, which would be effective until June 30, 2018.
“The directives aim to ensure the integrity of all portable devices brought inside the aircraft,” PAL said.
Thus, PAL is urging passengers bound for the US from Manila and Vancouver to comply with the additional inspection requirement.
When undergoing the additional inspection, passengers must ensure the device have sufficient battery charge, and the device’s protective casing must also be removed during the screening process.
Once the PED is cleared at the checkpoint, PAL will allow it to be on board.
Examples of PED include cameras, tablets, laptops, portable DVD players, electronic game units, scanners and printers. (Ma. Cristina C. Arayata/PNA)
