WASHINGTON – When Congress voted last year to prohibit passengers from bringing lighters and matches aboard commercial airplanes, it sounded like a reasonable idea for improving airline security.

But as airports and government leaders began discussing how to create flame-free airport terminals, the task became more complicated. Would newsstands and other small airport stores located beyond the security checkpoint have to stop selling lighters? Would airports have to ban smoking and close smoking lounges? How would security screeners detect matches in passengers’ pockets or carry-on bags when they don’t contain metal to set off the magnetometers? And what about arriving international travelers, who might have matches and lighters with them as they walk through the terminal?

With these questions unanswered, the Transportation Security Administration has told airports that it won’t begin its ban on lighters and matches until mid-March even though the intelligence bill passed in December mandated that the TSA begin the ban by Wednesday.

Even when the new restrictions are implemented, they are expected to have little direct impact at Bangor International Airport, where smoking isn’t allowed, Rebecca Hupp, airport director, said Tuesday.

“It won’t have any significant impact, but it may be an inconvenience for passengers who have lighters or matches with them,” she said.

The TSA currently allows passengers to carry “up to two lighters or four books of safety matches” in a carry-on bag, but not in checked luggage, according to the TSA’s Web site. “The rule governing this change is in the final stages of clearance,” spokesman Mark Hatfield said. “Once enacted, it will be followed by a public awareness campaign.”