The White House has defended the decision by US President Donald Trump to discuss with Russian officials an Islamic State terror threat related to the use of laptops on aircraft.

EU officials have been waiting for details about the threat.

In a joint statement, the EU's transport and migration commissioners plus senior Department of Homeland Security officials said they had "exchanged information on the serious evolving threats to aviation security and approaches to confronting such threats".

They also shared details about their aviation security standards and detection capabilities, and agreed to meet again in Washington next week "to further assess shared risks and solutions for protecting airline passengers, whilst ensuring the smooth functioning of global air travel".

Banning large electronics would create logistical chaos on the world's busiest corridor of air travel - as many as 65 million people a year travel between Europe and North America on nearly 400 daily flights, many of them business travellers who rely on the devices to work during the flight.

The ban would dwarf in size the current one, which was put in place in March and affects about 50 flights per day from 10 cities, mostly in the Middle East.

The International Air Transport Association, which represents 265 airlines, on Tuesday wrote to both the EU and the US department to oppose the proposed ban, which it said would deeply affect the economy and cause the equivalent of 1.1 billion dollars (£848 million) in lost time to passengers.

There is also the question of the relative safety of keeping in the cargo area a large number of electronics with lithium batteries, which have been known to catch fire.

The association proposed more in-depth pre-flight screening, rather than forcing passengers to give up their electronics.

Nonetheless, airlines have said it is merely a matter of time before the ban is put in place, but the prospect has alarmed officials in the EU, who want to know more about any new threats and the disruption such a move would create.

Experts say a bomb in the cabin would be easier to make and require less explosive force than one in the cargo hold.

Baggage in cargo usually goes through a more sophisticated screening process than carry-on bags.

The original ban on mostly Middle Eastern flights, which Britain also partially adopted and is being considered by Australia, focused on certain countries because their equipment to screen carry-on bags is not as effective as machines in the US, analysts say.

Officials from Homeland Security met last week with high-ranking executives of the three leading US airlines - American, Delta and United - and the industry's leading US trade group to discuss expanding the laptop policy to flights arriving from Europe.

The airlines still hope to have a say in how the policy is put into effect at airports to minimise inconvenience to passengers.

The initial ban on passengers bringing large electronics devices into the cabin hit hardest at Middle Eastern airlines.

Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, this month cited the ban on electronics as one of the reasons for an 80% drop in profits last year.

It said the ban had a direct impact on demand for air travel into the US and it faced rising costs from introducing laptop loans to some passengers.