Emirates became the first ever commercial flight to allow users to use their mobile phone during a flight. The Emirates plane was an Airbus A340 and flew between Dubai and Casablanca. The aircraft was fitted with a system that stopped mobile phones from interferig with navigational equipment, whilst the plane was airborne.

The feature allows mobile phone users to make calls, send text messages and even send and receive emails via their Blackberry. The cabin crew can enable and disable the feature whenever they feel that it is appropriate. A spokesman from Emirates airlines said that they would be switching off the ability to make calls during evening flights, although text and email features would remain active whilst at cruising altitudes.

This is a huge step forward in terms of mobile phone technology. Traditionally if a user wanted to make a call on a plane, they would need to use a pre-paid satellite connection, this new technology changes everything.

Some people have always said that mobile phones do not disrupt aircraft navigation equipment, however this new technology makes doubly sure that nothing can go wrong. Yes now you can use your shiny new Nokia N96 whilst flying, what could be better than tha?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Mobile Phone Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.