Emirates will make tablets available for business-class and first-class passengers on flight to the US.
The new service is in response to the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) directive which requires all passengers travelling on non-stop flights to the US from Dubai to check-in their laptops, tablets and other personal electronic devices larger than a smartphone.
Emirates premium customers will now have Microsoft Surface tablets equipped with Microsoft Office 2016 available for loan on board. Customers can download their work on to a USB which can be brought on board and plugged into the devices to continue working.
The service is complimentary and will be available on all non-stop flights from Dubai to Emirates’ US destinations.
For customers who prefer to stow their personal devices and not work during the flight, Emirates had introduced a laptop and tablet handling service for US-bound customers. This complimentary service has been available to passengers in all cabin classes since 25 March 2017, which was when the new TSA rules took effect.
Customers are able to retain and use their personal devices until just before they board their US-bound flights, when declare and hand over their laptops, tablets and other banned electronic devices to security staff at the boarding gate, who will pack and tag each device to be stored in the aircraft hold and returned to the customer at their US destination.
To date, nearly 8 000 passengers have used Emirates’ laptop and tablet handling service on the airline’s 112 weekly non-stop flights departing Dubai International airport to cities in the US.
