The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) has called for a hold on any electronics ban expansion to Europe, calling instead for a “green-list” of passengers validated by biometrics.

Speaking at the Aviation Festival Americas with more than 60 airlines, APEX CEO Joe Leader said passengers can be cleared to carry electronics on restricted routes through the biometric facial recognition initiative being put forward by the U.S. DHS CBP in place of the electronics ban.

"Having the electronics ban spread to the European Union for flights to the United States would damage the personal freedoms integral to international air travel. We must stand together with government solutions for personal electronics that enable both security and accessibility for our airline passengers worldwide," said Leader.

"Biometric identification of passengers that are pre-cleared to travel with electronics would enable a viable potential solution with the U.S. DHS CBP ready to provide immediate technological facilitation."

APEX sounded the alarm in March when the airline electronics ban started, and warned that it could easily spread as reported today. In the United States alone, carriers in less than 30 days have removed more than one million annual passenger long-haul seats from the airports affected by the United States electronics ban alone.

"As the leading international airline association focused on passenger experience, APEX has actively and repeatedly expressed that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.K. Department of Transport should institute government-approved solutions for electronics rather than the existing airline electronics ban," Leader stated.

"Fighting potential threats means finding government solutions that do not take the laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, and large phones out of the hands of the millions of law-abiding passengers that use them every day. We owe our air travelers worldwide the best options to make their flights enjoyable and productive."