Talks on a proposed US ban on laptops and tablets in flights from Europe have ended with no ban - and a promise of more talks and better intelligence sharing.

The airline industry came out against the proposal in a strongly worded letter that said it would cause a severe downturn in trans-Atlantic air travel and cost travellers more than a billion dollars in lost time.

The decision not to impose the ban on electronic devices followed talks in a secure room in Brussels between officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and the European Union, where information about air travel threats was swapped.

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", according to a joint statement.

The proposed electronics ban would create logistical chaos on the world's busiest air travel corridor. 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 flight.

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

However airlines have said it is merely a matter of time before the ban is put in place.

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