Passengers may soon be able to make inflight mobile calls on flights across the European Union (EU) after the introduction of new rules to make such an initiative possible.

The European commission (EC) has launched a new framework to enable both leisure and business travellers to send and receive voice calls and text messages while in the air over European countries.

According to the EC, some 90 per cent of European flyers currently carry a mobile phone onboard with them for use at their destination.

The announcement comes after UK regulator Ofcom approved the use of mobile phones on flights operated by UK-registered planes and follows an announcement by Emirates that the world's first legal inflight mobile phone call had been made on one of its planes.

Viviane Reding, telecoms commissioner for the EU, said she hoped the new rules would prompt mobile operators to be transparent when charging customers for inflight calls, as well as make airlines think about how to consider the requirements of passengers who may be disturbed by others using a handset in the air.

"Inflight mobile phone services can be a very interesting new service, especially for those business travellers who need to be ready to communicate wherever they are, wherever they go," she remarked.

"However, if consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take off."

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