Mobile phones and laptops are to be banned from transatlantic flights unless they are powered on as security forces prepare for an imminent terrorist attack.

Dublin Airport’s security bosses and Aer Lingus have confirmed they are aware of the new policy in light of mounting threats of an Al-Qaeda attack.

The Irish Independent reports that passengers on flights to and from the United States may be forced to turn on electronic devices to prove they are real at security checks.

Passengers are also expected to undergo ‘vigorous’ body searches according to the report.

A spokesman for the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) told the Irish Independent that it is ‘liaising with the Department of Transport in relation to any proposed changes regarding aviation security at Irish airports.’

An Aer Lingus spokesman said: “We are looking into the new regulations and will advise customers accordingly.”

Security measures were stepped up at all airports serving transatlantic flights amid concerns that al-Qaeda extremists based in Yemen plan to use British and other Western jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq as suicide bombers.

The Irish Independent report adds that laptops, tablet computers and other electronic devices will also be banned from planes if they cannot be turned on.

US officials have singled out smart-phones including iPhones made by Apple Inc and Galaxy phones made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for extra security checks on US-bound direct flights from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Enhanced security at foreign airports with direct flights to the US was requested by the Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson last week.

He made the request after intelligence reports that al-Qaeda terrorists in Yemen and its master bomb maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri have linked up with jihadists in Syria and passed on bomb-making expertise.