If haven’t been living under a rock the last few weeks, you definitely would of heard about the U.S. Electronic ban. If you haven’t heard of it basically, most of the Middle Eastern carriers are not allowed to let passengers take electronic devices bigger than a mobile phone onboard. The ban has caused mass confusion and it has affected the ME3 (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar) significantly.
5 days ago Etihad annoucned that they would loan IPads to passengers and wifi would be free for the U.S routes. Well, Qatar has just announced their new solution to the ban.
Qatar will offer passengers a laptop to use for free on all U.S bound flights for Business Class guests
Per Qatar Airways,
“As an award-winning and global airline we truly appreciate the importance of being able to work on board our aircraft and that is why I have insisted on offering only the best possible solution for our customers. By providing this laptop loan service we can ensure that our passengers on flights to the US can continue to work whilst on-board. This unique ability to offer ‘business as usual’, above and beyond the competition, is yet another example of Qatar Airways justification for being the ‘World’s Best Business Class’.”
The laptops are only available to Business Class guests at this time. To receive a laptop, you’ll be able to collect one at the gate when boarding. They’ll also provide passengers with a USB to store all of their work.
As well as introducing free laptops to use, the airline has announced that they will give all passengers 1 hour of free wifi and if you want more it will cost $5 for the duration of the flight.
Qatar Airways 777-200LR
The airline hasn’t stated what the brand of laptops will be but if the press photo is correct they will be Apple Macbook Pro Retina’s, if that’s true, that’s a massive investment from the airline as they aren’t cheap!
I think the ME3 are trying as hard as they can to overcome and improve the onboard experience for passengers with the ban. With Qatar and Etihad now offering free electronic devices onboard that’s pretty impressive and It’ll be interesting to see if Emirates do something similar.
Kudos to Qatar!
