In-flight mobile service launched

THE days of airline passengers being told to turn their mobile phones off during flights look to be numbered, with Ryanair finally launching its long-awaited in-flight mobile phone service yesterday.

The airline has announced a trial run of the new system on its Dublin-based fleet, in conjunction with the Swiss-headquartered passenger in-flight communications services provider, OnAir.

The service will initially be available only to Vodafone and O2 network users, but OnAir is talking with 3 and Meteor, with a view to them coming on board. Last night 3 said it would be interested in signing up to the service, but only if the charges for customers were lower. In terms of costs to end users, all prices depend on mobile provider tariffs.