Ryanair launch phone service

A report in today's 'Independent' newspaper states that Ryanair will be offering mobile phone services on 14 of it's 166 aircraft within the next two weeks. Initially it will be customers of O2 and 3 networks that will be able to use the service. If the trial is successful, the service will be rolled out across the entire fleet in six months. The system reduces the transmitting power of mobile devices to ensure that they do no interfere with aircraft systems. A maximum of six passengers at a time can make voice calls but all on board will be able to use data services for SMS or email. The flight crew have control of the ON-OFF switch so that the system can be turned off if required. The system is supplied by OnAir, a joint venture company formed by SITA, the airline industry owned IT solutions provider and Airbus. It was as far back as August 2006 that OnAir announced that Ryanair had signed up to use their product. The 'Independent' reports that call charges ( which Ryanair get a percentage of ) have yet to be fixed but are expected to be around €2.50 per minute which is unlikely to see the service being used for anything other than very short calls.