Laptops could soon be a thing of the past for passengers on long haul flights to New Zealand from the Middle East.

The Civil Aviation Authority is currently weighing up its options for beefing up our security checks on flights from Muslim-majority countries in the region.

It's thought it may include a ban electronic devices larger than cell-phones, following similar policies introduced USA, Britain and Australia.

House of Travel CEO Brent Thomas points out the Middle East is a common route and huge numbers of Kiwis would be affected.

"The inconvenience of not having a laptop or a tablet will be something that New Zealanders will have to consider," Thomas said.

Prime Minister Bill English told Larry Williams some serious thinking needs to go into the new rules, as it's a "pretty fine balance."

"We don't want to overreact to possible threats, but we do want to make sure that we're keeping up with the type of threat that is a real risk to New Zealanders," English said.