Air travel looks like to be the next frontier in the sprawl of mobile phone use.
While the European Commission and some carriers are moving forward to make service available as soon as possible, Maltese air passengers have already shared their misgivings, with Air Malta apparently buying time before taking a decision.
A month ago the European Commission introduced rules to harmonise conditions for the take-off of pan-European mobile communication services on aircraft. It said these services will allow businesspeople and consumers to receive and make calls and messages safely with their own mobile phones while flying over Europe. This means that the 90 per cent of European air passengers that already carry mobile phones on-board aircraft can remain contactable during flights.
"In proposing rules for one of the first truly pan-European telecoms services, the European Commission is responding to demand from air passengers to use their mobile phones during flights, as well as from industry, which would like to respond to this demand," the Commission said in statement.
However, it seems the Maltese reaction to this statement has been cautious at best. Readers of The Times and timesofmalta.com did not welcome the proposal with much enthusiasm.
In a letter to the editor of The Times, Brian Groves from Mosta wrote: "Following the EU regulators' decision to give airlines the option of allowing the use of mobile phones on European flights, I hope that Air Malta will ignore it. Given that the majority of Air Malta's flight durations are "relatively" short and that the service (sic) will be available only when the aircraft is above 3,000 metres, I cannot understand why a person would need to contact anybody before their flight has landed."
Timesofmalta.com readers reacted to Mr Grove's letter by sharing similar concerns.
"Heaven forbid if I had to fly with an airline that allows mobiles to ring on board the aircraft! They will be allowing it in church, next," said one reader.
Another contribution said "Malta is mainly a holiday destination people are coming for a rest and I really hope that Air Malta doesn't try and implement this mobile phone usage concept on all its flights because first of all I doubt they'd make any money from it and secondly it would disturb people coming to relax on their holidays."
Another reader suggested only SMSs are allowed.
Emirates Airlines, the world's pioneering airline to start introducing mobile phone call facilities on board its flights said as the service is being gradually installed in the airline's fleet, there is no specific date as to when this will be available on flights serving Malta.
Emirates' AeoroMobile system automatically switches on after takeoff and will be available for use once the aircraft reaches 6,000 metres. At that point, an in-flight briefing video will play and Emirates cabin crew will announce that passengers' mobile phones can be switched on. Each passenger's phone will then receive a (free) text message (SMS) from the AeroMobile system advising passengers to switch their phones to silent mode. The system will be switched off as the aircraft begins its descent, at 6,000 metres, after alerting users with an SMS.
"Using mobiles in flight is safe only if this type of technology is fitted to the aircraft," the airline emphasised.
For many years now air passengers have grown accustomed to switching off their mobile during flights. So why suddenly this has become possible?
Emirates said its AeroMobile's technology reduces signal strength of passengers' mobiles to an absolute minimum (typically up to 1000th of usual strength on the ground and less than the strength of the on-board microwave), ensuring there's no interference to the aircraft's equipment.
However texts and calls can still be made because the AeroMobile system is specially designed to work with these very low power signals throughout the passenger cabin. All calls and texts are sent from the AeroMobile system to the aircraft's existing satellite communications systems and relayed to land.
This means that passengers can be connected over oceans and remote areas as well as over land.
Above all, Emirates thinks such a service is "necessary".
"Mobile phones have become such a part of people's lives today that there is a growing expectation for people to be able to stay in touch in a way they are comfortable with. People will prefer to use their own phones rather than a seat-back system, and AeroMobile allows passengers to receive calls and texts which is an important part of staying in touch and being in contact, even when you fly," an Emirates spokesman said.
However, Emirates insists "We are confident that passengers will fully understand the benefits when the system is up and running. There was even negative comment about the introduction of personal in-flight entertainment systems when they were first introduced, and everybody accepts that now as being a huge benefit".
To allay fears of passengers shared by readers of this newspaper, Emirates said it will be operating a standard of etiquette/code of conduct which will ensure the comfort of all passengers won't be compromised.
"Don't forget aircraft cabins have a certain amount of background noise which does suppress normal-level conversations.
"However, due to limitations on the capacity of the satellite communications links between the aircraft and the ground in the short term only five to six passengers will be able to make calls at any one time."
In the meantime Air Malta is looking into the matter with caution.
Reacting to the wave created by the European Commission's decision, Air Malta said it "will study the introduction of such systems on its aircraft in line with relevant safety and commercial policies and in the best interest of its customers."
The airline said the introduction of mobile phone usage on board Air Malta aircraft is subject to a lengthy process of certification by the aircraft manufacturer and state authorities.
Until such studies are concluded mobile phones must be switched off prior to embarkation and not switched on before dise-mbarkation, the airline insisted.
While the European Commission and some carriers are moving forward to make service available as soon as possible, Maltese air passengers have already shared their misgivings, with Air Malta apparently buying time before taking a decision.
A month ago the European Commission introduced rules to harmonise conditions for the take-off of pan-European mobile communication services on aircraft. It said these services will allow businesspeople and consumers to receive and make calls and messages safely with their own mobile phones while flying over Europe. This means that the 90 per cent of European air passengers that already carry mobile phones on-board aircraft can remain contactable during flights.
"In proposing rules for one of the first truly pan-European telecoms services, the European Commission is responding to demand from air passengers to use their mobile phones during flights, as well as from industry, which would like to respond to this demand," the Commission said in statement.
However, it seems the Maltese reaction to this statement has been cautious at best. Readers of The Times and timesofmalta.com did not welcome the proposal with much enthusiasm.
In a letter to the editor of The Times, Brian Groves from Mosta wrote: "Following the EU regulators' decision to give airlines the option of allowing the use of mobile phones on European flights, I hope that Air Malta will ignore it. Given that the majority of Air Malta's flight durations are "relatively" short and that the service (sic) will be available only when the aircraft is above 3,000 metres, I cannot understand why a person would need to contact anybody before their flight has landed."
Timesofmalta.com readers reacted to Mr Grove's letter by sharing similar concerns.
"Heaven forbid if I had to fly with an airline that allows mobiles to ring on board the aircraft! They will be allowing it in church, next," said one reader.
Another contribution said "Malta is mainly a holiday destination people are coming for a rest and I really hope that Air Malta doesn't try and implement this mobile phone usage concept on all its flights because first of all I doubt they'd make any money from it and secondly it would disturb people coming to relax on their holidays."
Another reader suggested only SMSs are allowed.
Emirates Airlines, the world's pioneering airline to start introducing mobile phone call facilities on board its flights said as the service is being gradually installed in the airline's fleet, there is no specific date as to when this will be available on flights serving Malta.
Emirates' AeoroMobile system automatically switches on after takeoff and will be available for use once the aircraft reaches 6,000 metres. At that point, an in-flight briefing video will play and Emirates cabin crew will announce that passengers' mobile phones can be switched on. Each passenger's phone will then receive a (free) text message (SMS) from the AeroMobile system advising passengers to switch their phones to silent mode. The system will be switched off as the aircraft begins its descent, at 6,000 metres, after alerting users with an SMS.
"Using mobiles in flight is safe only if this type of technology is fitted to the aircraft," the airline emphasised.
For many years now air passengers have grown accustomed to switching off their mobile during flights. So why suddenly this has become possible?
Emirates said its AeroMobile's technology reduces signal strength of passengers' mobiles to an absolute minimum (typically up to 1000th of usual strength on the ground and less than the strength of the on-board microwave), ensuring there's no interference to the aircraft's equipment.
However texts and calls can still be made because the AeroMobile system is specially designed to work with these very low power signals throughout the passenger cabin. All calls and texts are sent from the AeroMobile system to the aircraft's existing satellite communications systems and relayed to land.
This means that passengers can be connected over oceans and remote areas as well as over land.
Above all, Emirates thinks such a service is "necessary".
"Mobile phones have become such a part of people's lives today that there is a growing expectation for people to be able to stay in touch in a way they are comfortable with. People will prefer to use their own phones rather than a seat-back system, and AeroMobile allows passengers to receive calls and texts which is an important part of staying in touch and being in contact, even when you fly," an Emirates spokesman said.
However, Emirates insists "We are confident that passengers will fully understand the benefits when the system is up and running. There was even negative comment about the introduction of personal in-flight entertainment systems when they were first introduced, and everybody accepts that now as being a huge benefit".
To allay fears of passengers shared by readers of this newspaper, Emirates said it will be operating a standard of etiquette/code of conduct which will ensure the comfort of all passengers won't be compromised.
"Don't forget aircraft cabins have a certain amount of background noise which does suppress normal-level conversations.
"However, due to limitations on the capacity of the satellite communications links between the aircraft and the ground in the short term only five to six passengers will be able to make calls at any one time."
In the meantime Air Malta is looking into the matter with caution.
Reacting to the wave created by the European Commission's decision, Air Malta said it "will study the introduction of such systems on its aircraft in line with relevant safety and commercial policies and in the best interest of its customers."
The airline said the introduction of mobile phone usage on board Air Malta aircraft is subject to a lengthy process of certification by the aircraft manufacturer and state authorities.
Until such studies are concluded mobile phones must be switched off prior to embarkation and not switched on before dise-mbarkation, the airline insisted.