Emirates pokes fun at electronic ban, touts in-flight entertainment amid customer complaints

Emirates Airlines hopes it can distract customers from the recently imposed electronic device ban with a little humor.

On Tuesday, the airline released a short commercial via social media to promote the carrier’s in-flight entertainment options.

The spot begins with a message asking “Who needs tablets and laptops anyway?” Emirates’ spokeswoman Jennifer Aniston stars in the ad, which shows her sitting in the coach section of a flight demonstrating the airline’s in-flight movie and TV options to two children.

“This thing has so many games and so many movies. It’s crazy,” Aniston says while illustrating the way the system works to the kids. The commercial runs under a “Let us entertain you” header and concludes with the airlines promoting its entertainment options.

“Over 2,500 channels of the latest movies, box sets, live sports and kids TV,” the airline said in the spot.

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The ban, announced March 21, indefinitely prohibits electronics larger than cellphones from being brought as carry-ons into the cabins of U.S.-bound flights from 10 international airports in eight countries across Africa, Turkey and the Middle East.

The policy will affect around 50 flights each day to the United States, many of which are flown by Emirates. The carrier currently travels to 12 U.S. airports and even provides multiple daily flights on some routes.

Many passengers affected by the ban have voiced their frustration with the ruling on social media.

Royal Jordanian was also trying to might light of the situation on social media.

Still, the reasoning behind the ban is solid according to law enforcement officials.

“Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorists continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressively pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items,” a senior Trump administration official told USA Today.

Regarding its enforcement of the new procedure, an Emirates spokesman provided the following statement to Fox News, reiterating the details of the electronics ban:

"“Emirates can confirm that as per the new security directive issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), electronic devices larger than a cell phone/smart phone, excluding medical devices, cannot be carried in the cabin of the aircraft. The directive comes into effect on 25 March 2017 and is valid until 14 October 2017. It is applicable to all US-bound passengers from Dubai International Airport, whether originating or transiting through. Emirates requests that all passengers travelling to the US pack all electronic devices larger than a cell phone/smart phone in their checked-in baggage.”