First commercial plane to allow mobile use flies into UK
It’s the end of an era.
The one remaining haven where you can escape from the tyranny of your mobile has been taken away as Emirates flew its first plane into the UK last Thursday which allowed passengers to call and text midair.
The Emirates Boeing 777 was using the AeroMobile system as it flew to Heathrow, which reduces the strength of phone signals to the absolute minimum preventing it from interfering with the aircraft’s equipment.
The signal is still strong enough for people to make and receive calls and send and receive text messages. They must, however, observe a protocol which demands they keep their phones on silent throughout the trip.
AeroMobile said about 20% of passengers made use of the service during the seven hour flight from Dubai and a total of more than 30 calls were made as well as almost 100 texts exchanged.
AeroMobile chief executive Bjorn-Taale Sandberg said: “After being the world’s first to operate our system on commercial flights, we’re delighted that we are now also first into the UK.
“All the evidence so far is that concerns about potential impact on fellow passengers are groundless. The service has been used considerately and with the minimum of fuss. Text messaging is proving particularly popular, especially because it’s an effective way to communicate during a long-haul flight when you are crossing different time zones.â€
Emirates Vice President for passenger communications Patrick Brannelly said: “We have had no complaints or incidents since the service was introduced in March. On airliners the cabin noise level is such that you can’t hear people making phone calls, and the call quality has been so good there’s been no need to shout.â€
Emirates has the AeroMobile system fitted on 13 of its aircraft.
By Dinah Hatch
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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