Airline cabin crew to get tablet computers

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Flight attendants on Emirates Airline are being given Windows 8 tablet computers with a built-in airline-specific business app, airline officials said.

The airline announced the move Monday during the Windows 8 launch event in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, home to the airline, CNET reported.

The HP ElitePad 900 tablets will use a business app called Knowledge Driven In-flight Service, or KIS, which can provide airplane, crew and customer information, officials said.

"To support our crew, we have created an application on Windows 8 that delivers a unique, personalized experience with the necessary information for our cabin crew to better serve the needs of customers," Emirates Cabin Crew Senior Vice President Kevin Griffiths said in a statement.

"The Windows 8 platform running on HP ElitePad 900 devices gave us this option, allowing us to create the KIS app that enables our crew to offer an experience not available on other airlines."

The airline said it would have 100 tablets in its planes by the end of January 2013 and 1,000 by the end of the year.