Monarch poll shows customers turning back to books on Turkey flights

Flights from Turkey are subject to a ‘laptop’ ban of electronics larger than smart phones. Continue reading →

More than half of passengers would return to reading a book on a flight without technology to while away the time, according to a poll by low-cost airline Monarch.

Monarch conducted the poll following feedback from its cabin crew that more customers were reading and chatting together on flights out of Turkey, where Government guidelines ban laptops and tablets in the aircraft cabin.

Devices larger than the size of a smart phone are prohibited on flights from Turkey to the UK after Britain followed the USA’s lead in introducing a so-called ‘laptop ban’ amid fears terrorists could hide a bomb inside bigger gadgets.

In Monarch’s Twitter poll, which asked what kept people entertained on a flight before technology, 50% said they would read a book, 21% played games and puzzles and 19% spent their time chatting to others. Of the remaining 10%, many said they would spend their time looking out of the window, listening to music or sleeping.

So ahead of the summer, Monarch is urging travellers to take a book, dig out travel games or playing cards or have a chat on board its flights.

The poll follows a similar Holiday Pirates earlier this month which found that two-thirds of Brits would read a book if the laptop ban was extended so they had to keep gadgets in the hold.