Some passengers on Virgin Atlantic flights can now call home from the air.
The airline announced last Tuesday it is providing travellers with a new mobile phone service to make and receive phone calls from 10,670 metres in the air.
The service will allow passengers to send and receive text messages, e-mails and access the internet on Virgin Atlantic’s new Airbus A330-300 planes flying between London and New York.
The in-flight service is targeting business travellers and will be available in all cabins, although limited to six users at a time.
“The service is intended for use in exceptional situations, when passengers need to send an SMS, make a quick call, or access an e-mail on a Blackberry,” a statement said.
Virgin Atlantic said it has been testing the service, called Aero Mobile, over the past few months. The airline expects it will be available on nearly 20 Virgin Atlantic aircraft by the end of 2012.
It can be used by customers of networks provided by Telefonica’s O2 and Vodafone.
The mobile phone service, however, will not be accessible during the entire flight. It cannot be used during take-off or landing and will be shut off approximately 400 km from US airspace.