Does "as" here mean same thing as "while"?

Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
Not quite! Here it's used similarly to "because" or "since" to indicate a reason for something. So, they need to enter a name <because> they're looking for a seat number. Ex: I'm gonna buy some more flour, as we have none left. Ex: As it's sunny outside, I'm going to go for a walk! => the reason Ex: As the washing machine runs, I'll do some work. => while