As per ‘The Telegraph’, Virgin Atlantic passengers will have the privilege of using the mobile phone during their flights. They can also receive and send text messages and surf the net. Virgin Atlantic will be the first airliner to permit these, though British Airways allows the passengers to write texts and access the web, during their journey between London and New York.
These facilities will be available initially with the company’s Airbus A330, which is receiving a GBP100 million investment, taking off from London to New York and later with Being 747 planes, which incidentally are on for a GBP 50 million refurbishment. The plan is to provide the facility to at least 20 planes on around ten routes by the end of the year.
Steve Griffith of Virgin Atlantic informed that the airlines took this decision as most of the passengers expressed their desire for communication during the flights. He expects Wi-Fi to be available for Boeing 787 Dreamliner by 2014.
However, there will be some limitations. The phone should not be used while taking off or landing. The phone will switch off when it is 400 KMs from the US.
Due to limited bandwidth only basic web access can be availed over General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).
The travelers will have to pay roaming charges.
Incidentally, the mobile phones were not allowed in the planes for safety reasons, as the waves generating would interfere with that of the navigation system of the aircraft.
