For us Arabs, traveling seems to keep getting tougher and tougher.
After the U.S. and the UK's new electronics ban was announced, Australia declared it would be applying additional security checks on passengers flying directly from Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East to "prevent security threats," the Independent reported.
The new rules are similar to those of Britain and the United States, but do not include the same bans on electronic devices.
Over the weekend, the Australian Government stated that it will increase scrutiny over security checks of passengers coming from Middle-Eastern countries by using new electronic screening processes.
Although the Australian government hasn't yet gone as far as the governments of the UK and the U.S., passengers traveling out of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha might experience delays as they could be randomly selected for screening.
"In response to national security advice the Federal Government has made precautionary changes and instructed airlines to implement new protocols from next week," Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said in a statement on Friday.
"Explosive detection screening will be conducted for randomly selected passengers and their baggage. Checks may also include targeted screening of electronic devices."
Some of the airlines that will be affected by Australia's new travel measures include Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad and Qantas.
Virgin Australia airlines will also be affected since they have a Codeshare partnership with Etihad airlines.
