Nine out of ten business travellers view mobile phones in-flight as a menace, according to a recent survey carried out by businesstraveller.com.
Over 90 per cent of respondents said that they viewed the prospect of in-flight mobile phone calls as “a menace”, with less than 10 per cent viewing the new technology as “a marvel”. The result comes as Ryanair launched in-flight mobile phone facilities on selected flights from Dublin, with the service due to be rolled out across the carrier’s fleet over the next 18 months.
British Airways has also recently announced an in-flight mobile service onboard its forthcoming all-business class flights from London City to New York. However the service will allow for data services only (email, text messaging and internet browsing), as CEO Willie Walsh said that feedback from BA customers revealed that they did not want people in the next seat “screaming into the phone”. Emirates currently offers mobile phone call facilities on selected routes, and recently said that it had clocked up its 100,000th user on a flight from Dubai to Singapore.
A total of 445 visitors to businesstraveller.com responded to the poll "Mobile phones in-flight - a marvel or a menace?" - 91.2 per cent responded “menace”, with 8.8 per cent responding “marvel”. For more survey results visit businesstraveller.com/polls.
