Emirates is Loaning Free Microsoft Surface Tablets to Passengers

It’s been nearly three weeks since a broad electronics ban went into place on a swath of flights from the Middle East to the U.S. and UK, and airlines are starting to adapt to the inconvenience.

Late this week, Emirates became the third Middle East carrier to announce that it would loan temporary hardware to passengers flying on routes affected by the electronics ban. According to a release from the airline, passengers in business and first class cabins will be loaned Microsoft Surface tablets with the Office suite installed. Travelers with urgent work can download data to a USB drive prior to boarding the aircraft and then continue working on the USB-equipped Surface tablet during the flight, an awkward if passable solution to staying productive.

A Libyan traveller packs his laptop in his suitcase before boarding his flight for London at Tunis-Carthage International Airport on March 25, 2017.

The United States this week announced a ban on all electronics larger than a standard smartphone on board direct flights out of eight countries across the Middle East, in effect from March 25, 2017. US officials would not specify how long the ban will last, but Emirates told AFP that it had been instructed to enforce the measures until at least October 14. Britain has also announced a parallel electronics ban targeting all flights out of Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Lebanon. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID

Emirates has also been allowing passengers to carry banned electronics all of the way to the boarding area and then helping passengers pack up hardware, according to multiple on-the-ground reports from the Dubai airport.

Proactive @Emirates following protectionist #LaptopBan by offering laptop handling service (enables passengers to use laptop until boarding) pic.twitter.com/lhrxa5wlJ4
— سلطان سعود القاسمي (@SultanAlQassemi) March 28, 2017

Emirates’ new loaner program follows similar initiatives put into place at Qatar Airways and Etihad, two other prominent Middle East carriers.

As of April 2nd, the blog One Mile at a Time reports that Etihad Airways is loaning iPads to business and first class customers. Qatar Airways, perhaps competitively, is giving premium passengers entire laptops plus an hour of inflight WiFi.

Dubai-based Emirates seems to be splitting those two initiatives by giving passengers USB-equipped tablets on which passengers can load data but without the full functionality of a laptop.

All three loaner programs are in currently full effect and only apply to premium cabins on the carriers, leaving economy passengers still without options for inflight electronics.

Business and first class customers traveling on Middle Eastern carriers to the U.S. or UK, on the other hand, can now comfortably stay productive almost irrespective of which carrier they fly. And though the loaner program clearly doesn’t restore full productivity to a business traveler’s flight, it’s a far better solution to working entirely through a mobile phone.

source : https://tinyurl.com/lh9qypc