In-flight mobile phone use

Recently I flew from Christchurch to Auckland (New Zealand) and was lucky enough to jump on-board Air New Zealands new Airbus 320 fully kitted out to use mobile phones while flying.

It is great to finally see a local carrier offer this as a service.

I’ve been watching this space for years and have never understood why airlines would stop people using mobile phones.
I recall watching an episode of Mythbusters where they tried to see if using a mobile phone would interfere with the aircrafts navigational system.  It did not.  Even when they cranked up the old fashioned mobile that kicked out the highest wattage/frequency.

So why has it taken so long?  I’m picking it is due to a pricing model.  The price to use your mobile phone on the Air New Zealand flight was very expensive – data in particular was expensive $20 per mb.  Once in the air you are considered to be International Roaming so your carrier charges apply.  Vodafone have muscled in on the action and they are offering a deal.  Their logo is on the marketing material supplied to customers.

I tried using my Telecom connected iPhone without much luck.  But to be honest, the longest flight in New Zealand is just over 90 minutes so for the sake of cost I’d be willing to wait.  Now on a long haul flight this service will be excellent, especially if you can download email!