Flights Direct

The Australian airline Qantas is currently installing the latest technology within all of its domestic planes. This technology will mean that all passengers will be able to send and receive emails and SMS messages via a mobile phone or other electronic devices.

This news has been released shortly after the first mobile phone call was made on an Emirates flight last week. Qantas will be using the same technology as Emirates, which has been developed by AeroMobile.

Qantas first trialed this new mobile technology in Boeing 767-300 plane, between April 2007 and January 2008. “The evaluation of this new technology was a great success. An overwhelming majority of passengers involved in the evaluation indicated they wanted access to inflight connectivity on an ongoing basis,” states the Qantas executive general manager, John Borghetti.

AeroMobile has been able to develop this new technology, which means that passengers can use mobile phones and other electronic devices can be used safely during flight without interfering with the aircraft systems or with the communication network on the ground.

“Customers wanting to send or receive an SMS will require only a GSM phone and a global roaming account, while customers wanting to send or receive emails will need a GPRS enabled device like a Blackberry or an appropriately equipped laptop,” Borghetti added.

Qantas will not initially be allowing passengers to make voice calls on their mobiles. “Voice connectivity is a feature of the technology but will not be activated as part of the new service,” the airline said in part of its statement.

The AeroMobile technology will initially be installed on the Boeing 767-300 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft that are operated within Australia.