British Airline to Enable Passengers to Make Phone Calls on Trans-Atlantic Flights

Virgin Atlantic customers will no longer have to shut off their phones on transatlantic flights from London to New York by the end of the year.

In-flight mobile calls will be offered on 17 planes on at least 10 routes by the end of 2012, but will initially be offered on Virgin Atlantic’s newest plane, the Airbus A330.

U.S. law prohibits cellular phones to be used in-flight within 250 miles from its airspace. While it allows other services such as Skype on-board plans that offer Wi-Fi service, the use of cellular service is strictly forbidden.

Many of the surveys taken in the U.S. have showed that Americans are opposed to the idea of in-flight phone calls. Customers in the U.K. have also displayed their feelings against the latest idea from Virgin Atlantic. According to a recent survey performed by The Telegraph, 69% of a total of 1,834 readers think that in-flight mobile phone calls are a bad idea. Some site the loudness of conversations, the sounds and tones of the phones, and the brightness of the display to cause a great disruption in-flight.

Nevertheless, Virgin Atlantic joins British Airways, Oman Air, Egypt Air, Libyan Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Royal Jordanian as some of the carriers that allow in-flight mobile calls.

Source: The Telegraph