Unlike other Trump travel bans, the new inflight electronics restriction wasn’t going away before Saturday’s launch. Airlines knew it, passengers knew it, so it was time to get creative.
In case you missed it, on Wednesday last week the American government issued a ban on electronic devices larger than smartphones on US-bound flights from 10 Middle Eastern and African cities. The UK quickly also followed suit.
That essentially meant that business travellers and holidaymakers flying from or via these cities would need to check-in their tablets, DVDs players, laptops and cameras.
Aside from putting their personal electronics at risk of damage in their check-in luggage, it also meant travellers would need to rely on inflight entertainment to keep busy for the duration of their US-bound service.
There was some initial fear as to how this could affect the inflight customer experience, but some carriers were quick to turn concerns into laughs by making fun of the new ban.
Royal Jordanian became instantly famous on Twitter over the weekend for its cheeky marketing campaign titled ’12 things to do on a 12-hour flight with no laptop or tablet’.
The post essentially mocked the ban with quirky suggestions to stay busy mid-flight such as ‘appreciate the miracle of flight’, ‘reclaim territory on armrest’ and ‘pretend tray table is a keyboard’.
The carrier’s humour was welcomed by followers, with many praising the carrier for its sarcastic approach to the situation.
One Twitter user described Royal Jordanian’s list as “trollerific” while another said the marketing team’s efforts were “impressing” them.
Your marketing team is still impressing us , great one ☝️
— Nasser (@nassersawaqed) March 23, 2017
Royal Jordanian’s short, sharp stabs at the ban continued when it followed the ‘tips list’ with this poetic beauty giving travellers an extra five kilograms for their first check-in piece.
Enjoy an extra 5kg on your first checked luggage during April when traveling Economy to any of our NA destinations #electronicsban pic.twitter.com/Cwvi9Zy9Em
— Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) March 26, 2017
This isn’t the first time the airline has taken the proverbial out of Trump either, the carrier used the slogan ‘just in case he wins… travel to the US while you’re still allowed to” to promote its US sale fares prior to his election…
🍊 ⛔️✈️️ #USElections pic.twitter.com/yBDVO2w3gb
— Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) November 8, 2016
✈ ???????? ✅ #DonaldTrump #MuslimBan pic.twitter.com/rptY3dS3Xh
— Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) February 5, 2017
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways delivered a little humour on Twitter when it asked the rhetorical question ‘who needs laptops and iPads’ when there’s over 3,000 channels to choose from via the airline’s inflight entertainment.
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
????????????⛔???????????????????? #electronicsban pic.twitter.com/3csTSEePg7
— Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) March 23, 2017
Over in the UAE and Turkey, Emirates and Turkish Airlines found a loophole in the ban, which allows guests travelling via Dubai or Istanbul to use their personal electronics during the first half of the journey and then handing them over to airline staff at the gate in Dubai or Turkey.
Electronics are to be stored away carefully in a box and returned to guests upon landing in the United States.
According to Emirates, extra staff were put on duty over the weekend to handle the 260,000 passengers passing through the Emirati city. They were seen in their familiar red suits at Dubai International Airport carrying signs explaining the ban and offering parents inflight alternatives to the iPad, Yahoo reported.