Passengers on flights in the United States will be able to take many types of cigarette lighters on board airliners again starting next month, with US federal authorities saying a ban did little to make flying safer.

"Taking lighters away is security theater," US Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley told The New York Times.

From August 4, travelers will be allowed to carry disposable butane lighters and refillable lighters, including Zippos, according to the newspaper. Lighters have been barred from checked bags for decades on concerns they might start fires in cargo holds.

And US Congress decided to stop travelers from carrying lighters aboard after terrorist Richard Reid used matches to try to light explosives in his shoes while on a Paris-Miami flight in 2001.

But Hawley said confiscating lighters did little to make flying safer, as other items could be used to detonate bombs.

"The No. 1 threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security checkpoint."

Security screeners now collect an average of 22,000 lighters a day.