A woman
watches a video on an iPhone as her plane lands at Denver International
Airport
in Denver, Colorado on October 23, 2012 (Getty Images/AFP/File, Justin
Sullivan)
|
Frankfurt —
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Wednesday it will allow
passengers to use a range of mobile electronic devices in flight with very few
restrictions.
Just two
weeks after the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States said it
would similarly relax its rules, EASA said that personal electronic devices
such as tablets, smartphones, e-readers and mp3 players could be used in all
phases of flight in the near future.
The devices
must, however, be used only when the "flight mode" or "airplane
mode" is switched on, it added in a statement. That mode disables cellular
service, so passengers will still not be able to make phone calls.
Current
EASA guidance allows the use of personal electronic devices on aircraft except
during taxiing, take-off and landing.
EASA would
issue the new guidance "by the end of November" and the changes would
apply to aircraft operated by European airlines.
"This
is a major step in the process of expanding the freedom to use personal
electronic devices on-board aircraft without compromise in safety," said
EASA executive director Patrick Ky.
EASA said
that in the long term it is looking at new ways to certify the use of mobile
phones on-board aircraft to make phone calls.
"EASA
recognises the wide proliferation of personal electronic devices and the wish
of the travelling public to use them everywhere," it said.
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