Following along from other countries and other airlines, The Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department is allowing airlines to use personal electronic devices from the 15th September.
The net upshot is that the first airlines to take advantage of this will be Cathay Pacific and DragonAir.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 arriving at Hong Kong International Airport
DragonAir Airbus A330-300 taxing at Hong Kong International Airport.
Personal Electronic Devices – or PED’s are handheld electronic devices such as:
- Tablet computers (such as iPads, Samsung Galaxey Tabs, HP Slate, Kindle Fire, etc).
- Smartphones (iPhones, Galaexy S series handsets, Nokia Lumias, HTC devices)
- eBook readers (Amazon Kindle, Kobo readers)
In addition, Cathay Pacific has suggested the other devices that can be used:
- Handheld gaming consoles
- Handheld photographic and video equipment.
Devices like the ones above will be allowed to be used during all phases of flight.
Laptops and larger devices will be restricted as they are currently, and will need to be stowed for take off and landing.
Data transmission features such as Bluetooth, WiFi must be disabled, along with the devices placed in “flight mode”.
The equipment change goes into effect from the 15th September, with flight CX592 operating Hong Kong to Osaka being the first aircraft to operate under the new rules.
For those who love to be entertained during all the flight, this comes as a welcome thing. Also, for passengers who go from one flight to another, the harmonised rules of electronics will ease the confusion, with one airline saying one rule, and another saying another.
A good change for the onboard passenger experience.
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