Mobile Phones aboard Flights on TAP Air and MBI

Soon, onboard mobile phones will be tested on Portugal’s TAP Air and Britain’s BMI. The service will come at a cost through…. nearly $2.50 (USD) per minute which may discourage many would be users. The service will be provided via a company called OnAir and will be tested in just a few Airbus aircraft to see how crews and customers adjust.

“This trial will guide us on usage patterns and some of the social issues in using mobile phones on aircraft,” bmi Chief Executive Nigel Turner told the AP. “It will also help us to confirm the business case for rolling the service out across the remainder of the fleet.”

It will be much longer before such a service flies in the USA however, the FAA has recently published this fact sheet on cell phone use in aircraft.