With airlines forced to respond due to the large item electronics ban, Qatar Airways is to offer loan laptops aboard their Qatar to USA services.
Qatar Airways Loan Laptop
The loan service will be offered on Doha to United States of America destinations for Business Class passengers only.
You’ll need to copy your data onto a USB Stick before departing, and then pop it on the laptop to continue working.
All electronic (regardless of travel class) will need to be declared. These will collected at the gate where any electronic items prohibited by the new ban will be collected and securely packaged. These will be tagged, loaded as check-in baggage and returned safely to the customer on arrival to the US.
In addition, one hour of free WiFi for all passengers heading to the USA, and a US$5 fee to be connected for the entire flight.
The downside of this is Qatar Airways primarily use SITA ONAir… which has extremely awful performance (the joy of L Band communications)… so good luck being connected.
Akbar Al Baker of Qatar Airways states
“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’.”
Whilst other airlines have relied on their existing on board offering to comfort passengers we have not rested until we could offer a true solution to our passengers. Our constant innovation and ability to react to changes in the industry is something I am very proud of. The launch of Qsuite, our new business class product just this month, and other announcements soon to come, are testament to our ongoing passion for providing the absolute best for our customers.”
It’s a great reaction by Qatar Airways. Whilst it would had been expensive to equip for more than business class, it’s a start to keeping those connected who need to be connected.
But good luck if you need to do anything online aboard a Qatar Airways flight. L band is painfully slow…
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