Passengers Want it; Let's Give it to Them

The passenger inside the aircraft will be able to use his phone or Blackberry as if he were in the office or at home. The technology is extremely simple and allows you to use your phone inside the aircraft, providing the plane is equipped with the right systems.

There will be situations where people book their flights based on whether or not in-flight mobile phone technology is available.

Market research was carried out and we found there was a lot of interest. But there has been some debate over whether passengers want a full service involving text messages, Blackberry usage and phone calls or just SMS.

There were concerns about the level of noise in the cabin if all services are available, but this isn't an issue. There are only two airlines with voice systems, which are Air France and Emirates, and we've believe it's not as big an issue as we first thought.

It's up to the airline to decide if and when you can use the system. The phone calls function, which can be de-activated, has to be tested to see how passengers react. There are, for example several options at the airline’s discretion to restrict services to outgoing calls only.

We can't prevent passengers from talking when sitting next to each other, so what happens with phone conversations remains to be seen. This is an emotive issue but tests are taking place to see how it works. -- (from an interview with Arabian supply chain.com)