First mobile-enabled flight at Heathrow Airport

Emirates flew its first commercial flight to offer inflight mobile use into Heathrow Airport last week, it has been reported.

Around 20 per cent of the passengers on the Boeing 777 flight from Dubai to London on August 7th made use of the AeroMobile system to make more than 30 calls and exchange 100 texts.

Mobile use is still banned in UK airspace but it is expected to be approved in the near future and the Emirates system is only available on ten per cent of flights and when aircrafts are above 23,000 feet.

Passengers are asked to keep their phones on silent at all times and the airline also gives its crews the potential to switch off the AeroMobile system or make it text only at any time.

Emirates spokesman Patrick Brannelly said: "The cabin noise level on airliners is such that you cannot hear people making phone calls and the call quality has been so good there has been no need to shout."

American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have announced they will offer Wi-Fi access to their passengers, according to reports.