Virgin Atlantic to Offer Mobile Calls Onboard Flights

Virgin Atlantic has announced it will become the first British airline to provide passengers with a service to make and receive phone calls in the air at 35,000ft.

The industry leading move also allows people to send and receive text messages, emails and have web access via GPRS.

The new mobile phone system will be available throughout the aircraft in all cabins and is targeted at business travellers. The service is intended for use in exceptional situations, when passengers need to send an SMS, make a quick call, or access an email on a Blackberry. The system will limit the connectivity to six users at any one time.

The new service has undergone on board tests over the last few months and is currently operational on A330-300 aircraft and by the end of 2012, the system will be available to passengers on nearly 20  aircraft.

Initially, AeroMobile is available for customers with O2 and Vodafone network providers. The service is not permitted during take-off or landing, and has to be turned off approximately 250 miles from US airspace.