EC welcomes swift take-up of in-flight mobile comms

Europe now has 27 aircraft equipped to allow passengers to use their mobiles in-flight, and the number of planes enabled for in-flight use of mobiles is expected to double by the end of the year.

The European Commission today welcomed the swift take up of in-flight comms by airlines Ryanair, TAP and BMI, just a year after the Commission created rules allowing for the safe use of phones on planes across European airspace.

The Commission said this "constitutes a promising start", and said technical trials are taking place at other airlines.

EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said in a statement: "The possibility to use a mobile phone onboard an aircraft is particularly sought after by business travellers and younger passengers. In addition, in-flight GSM offers are an interesting business model for European companies."

Two providers of mobile communications OnAir and AeroMobile offer mobile communications on aircraft in Europe.

The Commission said the price of on-board phone services so far start from about €1.60 (£1.50) per minute for a call and about 43 cents for a text message.