In-flight mobile calls take off with Emirates

The world has finally got its first commercial in-flight mobile service, thanks to Emirates and supplier AeroMobile. Emirates saw its first call on flight EK751, on a plane travelling between Dubai and Casablanca yesterday.

According to AeroMobile, it’s the first time that voice calls have been allowed on commercial airline flights, after the European Aviation Safety Agency and the United Arab Emirates-based General Civil Aviation Authority gave the system the thumbs-up.

It looks like AeroMobile and Emirates have really done their research here. There’s a second aircraft coming online soon, so the service isn’t just a one-off, BlackBerry email and other GPRS data applications will be available later on this year and there’s even a politeness policy enforced making sure that passengers keep their mobiles on silent. If Emirates get the pricing right, it could be the testbed that proves demand for in-flight mobility.