A Libyan traveller packs his laptop in his suitcase before boarding his flight for London at Tunis-Carthage International Airport on March 25, 2017. / AFP / FETHI BELAID
Middle East airlines scrambled to find ways to respond to a ban on electronics introduced last week. The ban targets direct flights headed to the United States and United Kingdom. Some, like Royal Jordanian Airlines, tried to calm or even attract customers through humor, while others, such as Turkish Airlines, boasted about their in-flight entertainment.
Royal Jordanian showcased its poetry skills through an original haiku on Twitter, urging people to travel to the U.S. while they can.
Stay tuned for more fun…..we have just begun #electronicban pic.twitter.com/VZz70tD67V
— Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) March 22, 2017
It also tweeted out a list of things passengers can do without a laptop or tablet, including appreciating the "miracle of flight", wrestle for territory on the armrest, and think about the meaning of life.
#electronicsban ???? pic.twitter.com/U3S7sdkipy
— Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) March 23, 2017
Another recent tweet was posted where passengers were allowed an extra 5kg checked in luggage to North American destinations. The Airlines also had an interesting suggestion to its flyers asking them to stare at each other.
????????????????????????????????? #electronicsban pic.twitter.com/3csTSEePg7
— Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) March 23, 2017
Royal Jordanian didn't respond to inquiries requesting comment.
This isn’t the first time the airline has reacted comically to US politics. The airline mocked US President Donald Trump last month after a federal judge lifted a travel ban on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
But Emirates Airline took another approach and updated a commercial starring Jennifer Aniston. "Who needs tablets and laptops anyway?" the company asked.
Let us entertain you. pic.twitter.com/FKqayqUdQ7
— Emirates airline (@emirates) March 21, 2017
Qatar Airways had similar approach where they tweeted that "with over 3,000 channels to choose from, Oryx One is the only entertainment you'll need on board."
With over 3,000 channels to choose from, Oryx One is the only entertainment you'll need on board #OryxOne pic.twitter.com/9kun66qh4v
— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) March 22, 2017
Turkish Airlines followed suit, and shared an advert to celebrate passengers having watched more than 2 billion minutes of entertainment while flying over the year. The airline is expected to make an announcement on the ban in the next few days.
Beyond the humor, and the reminder that sometimes it can be nice to just sit back and relax on a flight, airlines have worked to minimize the impact of the electronic ban on passengers.
Emirates plans to allow passengers to use laptops and tablets until the last possible moment before a flight, Emirates Airline President Tim Clark said in an email. Once they're done, users have to declare and hand over banned electronics to security at the gate. The airline will then carefully pack the devices into boxes, load them into the aircraft hold, and return them to passengers at the U.S. destination. "There will not be any charge for this service," it said in a press release.
But this may not keep everyone happy. "A 10 hour business class flight is a working day for me. I need my laptop," a user said on Twitter.
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, a United Arab Emirates-based columnist, said the ban is a pretext to stifle competition from Gulf airlines, and to "encourage US bound passengers to fly on American carriers."
There isn’t much that the carriers could do but comply, he said, suggesting that airlines could "allow passengers to convert the screens on the back of seats into a laptop screen, and offer them blue-tooth keyboards to connect their mobile phones." But that would carry its own security implications.
