Calling from the Airplane coming soon to Air France

I m sure many of you had been asking why it had taken so long for mobile service to be offered in the flying world. The first ever in-flight mobile service will finally make its debut as Air France and OnAir have teamed to offer the service on international flights.

Kicking off immediately, passengers will be able to send and receive sms and mms with the Mobile OnAir system, while those with mobile Internet access can receive and send emails.

“During the second half of the trial, passengers will be able to make and receive phone calls, with the service being regulated to maintain passengers’ comfort and well-being,” SlashPhone said. “At the end of the six-month trial, Air France will examine the feedback and comments made by customers to determine whether to launch this service on all its flights.”

As great as this is, imagine the frustration of people chattering on their phones. You thought it was bad on the bus? Frankly i would had preferred it to be limited to basic texting and emailing. Otherwise it would certainly had turned a good service into a service hated by many. While they maybe business travellers who may need this service, consideration should also be taken for those who are travelling on vacation where the last thing on earth they want to hear is having business travellers yakking on their mobile phones.

Aircraft is still the only safe haven from mobile till now. While there are some good of having mobile service on aircraft, there are still alot of other practical considerations that need to be taken into account. What do you think?