Inflight mobile use 'may require quiet areas'

Any official approval of the use of mobile phones onboard flights might require the establishment of quiet zones on planes, an expert has said.

Communications regulator Ofcom recently set out proposals for how airlines can enable inflight mobile use by installing base stations on their aircraft, although the Civil Aviation Authority is yet to approve these plans.

According to Laurence Price of engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald, some passengers may not take to the use of mobile phones inflight as they may prefer peace and quiet to the sound of people on their phones.

"Instead of: 'I'm on the train', we'll have: 'I'm on the plane'. I think it is actually quite nice to be away from it for a while, particularly when you're going long-haul," he commented.

"Someone bleating into a phone for two hours is not what I want if I'm paying reasonable money to go in one of the better cabins on an aeroplane."

A recent survey carried out by YouGov for the Business Travel Show found that 56 per cent of those who regularly fly business class disagreed with the notion of being able to make mobile calls on flights, breakingtravelnews.com reports.

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